A Turbulent Life
by Charmeleon
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Spyro the Dragon. This is my first Spyro fic so please go easy on me. Explanation of the story inside.
1. The Secret

I got the idea for this story after I played and beat Spyro: Shadow Legacy for the Nintendo DS. It was actually a spoiler for me because I didn't play A Hero's Tail until a few weeks after I won a PS2 from my New Year's vacation in Vegas so I didn't know that Red was the bad guy at first. This story is a continuation to Shadow Legacy, but is also a little AU. Even though this story will have parts of the Spyro Trilogy for PSone and Enter the Dragonfly for PS2, I still recommend that you play Shadow Legacy because it will help you understand this story better.

' is thoughts

Chapter 1: The Secret

It has been a year since the Sorcerer's defeat. Things have slowly but surely returned to normal for the citizens of the Dragon Worlds, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds. One of the best things that happened for everyone was Red's reconciliation. After reconciling with the others, Red had worked hard and achieved the status of Dragon Elder once again. There had still been some friction between him and Titan for a while because Titan didn't forgive Red as quickly as the others. But Titan had eventually gotten over his anger and finally forgave Red. They had become very good friends again. They were currently having a conversation.

"You haven't told Spyro about your family tie to him. Don't you think you should? It has been a year since the incident with the Sorcerer and about two and a half years since the Dark Gem incident," Titan said. 'You should be the one to tell Spyro that he's your son,' he secretly added.

"I know Titan. I just don't feel ready to tell him yet," Red said. He looked out the window of Titan's house and saw Spyro happily playing with Ember and Flame. He smiled at seeing just how happy Spyro was. 'I wish that she and I can be like that. We would've been like that if I hadn't been so foolish back then,' he thought before turning his attention back to Titan.

"I have a sinking feeling that Spyro will find out in a way that we won't expect," Titan said.

"Let's hope you're feeling is wrong," Red said.

What neither of them knew was that Titan would end up being right. Meanwhile, Spyro continued playing with Ember and Flame. They were playing Hide and Seek, and Spyro was the seeker. He counted to twenty before going out to look for his two fellow little friends. He saw a bright red tail sticking out from behind a boulder. He quietly made his way to the boulder. He didn't make a sound as he continued to come up behind Flame. He was soon right behind Flame.

"Gotcha, you're it" he said, tagging Flame.

Flame jumped at the sudden voice and felt a paw touch him. He looked behind and saw Spyro. He smiled. "You got me," he said before heading back to the tree that Spyro used his flame breath to mark as base.

Spyro followed close behind. When they arrived at the tree, Ember was already there. Ember knew that Spyro got Flame just by the look on Spyro's face. The three friends were about to go another round when a familiar figure came by. Spyro looked up and smiled at his cheetah friend.

"Hey Hunter," Spyro said.

"Hey pal," Hunter said. "Looks like I'm missing out on all the fun."

"You can join us if you want. Flame's it," Ember said.

"Thank you. Don't mind if I do," Hunter said before he and Ember looked for a place to hide.

Spyro was about to look for a place to hide when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He whipped around but saw nothing. 'I could've sworn I saw something,' he thought.

"Aren't you going to hide?" Flame asked.

"Huh? Oh...yeah," Spyro responded before looking for a place to hide. Something came into his peripheral vision again. He looked around again to see nothing. This time, he went in the direction where he now knew he saw something. He took every step cautiously. He kept seeing something whiz by, as if it was leading him somewhere.

Hunter, Flame and Ember had no idea that Spyro was no longer playing Hide and Seek since they couldn't see him. When an hour passed, they assumed that he decided to head back to the inn at Dragon Shores. They continued playing though. No one knew where Spyro had wandered off.

An hour later, Sparx came by and saw Hunter, Flame and Ember taking a rest. He had been looking for Spyro for about three hours now. "Hey, have you guys seen Spyro?" he asked.

"We thought he went back to the inn," Hunter responded.

"That's where I just came from. He's not there," Sparx said.

Hunter, Ember and Flame were now confused. They had no idea where Spyro went.

"Then where could he be?" Flame asked.

"I don't know. But I don't like the feeling I'm getting," Hunter responded.

"You don't think he's in trouble do you?" Ember asked. She was now very worried.

"He could very well be," Hunter responded.

"Let's go tell the Elders," Sparx said.

Meanwhile, Spyro was very lost. He really didn't keep track of where he was going and now had no idea how to get back home. He was in a dark forest. Although the sun is still out, none of its rays seemed to penetrate through the darkness. The speedy figure that he kept barely seeing was long gone now.

"I wish I knew where I was," Spyro said. "Maybe coming out here wasn't such a good idea after all." He continued on nevertheless.

Suddenly, dark vines came up from out of the ground and wrapped themselves around his legs. He tried to lift his legs, but the vines held strong. He couldn't move his legs an inch. He tried his flame breath, but it had no effect on the vines. The vines could burn; it's just that his flame breath wasn't strong enough.

Suddenly, Spyro began to feel weak. That was because the vines were now draining him of his energy. He was now fighting to stay conscious. But that was definitely a losing battle. Spyro felt himself losing consciousness as the vines continued to drain him of his energy. He thought he saw a large stream of fire striking one of the vines holding him captive before completely blacking out.

The vine holding Spyro's rear right leg gave an inhuman shriek as it burned away. The other three vines soon had their own fiery end. Red landed next to Spyro. He squatted down before picking Spyro up and standing back up. Spyro weakly opened his eyes upon feeling the movement and saw a blurred version of something that was red.

"Just hold on Spyro. We're going back to the Dragon World," was all he heard before blacking out again.

Red quickly took to the air, heading to the Dragon Dojo. He could sense just how weak Spyro was. 'It's a good thing I followed him. Those were parasite vines. It looks like my old foe Misteria is back,' he thought. He looked down at his unconscious son. "I'll do all I can to protect you from her," he said before looking ahead again.

Meanwhile, the others were at the dojo. They anxiously wated for Red to return. They all hoped that he found Spyro.

"I hope that Red happened to see Spyro," Titan said.

"Why do you think Spyro wandered off anyway?" Hunter asked.

"Maybe he saw something," Bianca suggested.

"I just hope he's all right," Blink said.

"Me too," Sparx added.

"We all do," Tomas said.

An hour later, Hunter looked up and saw a large unrecognizable figure heading towards the dojo. He continued watching the figure, as it got closer. He soon saw a much smaller figure in the larger figure's arms. He was able to see the two figures' colors, as the larger figure got closer still. He saw that the larger figure was red, and the smaller figure was purple. "Spyro!" he shouted. 'Red found him!' he secretly added.

"Where?" the others asked, looking everywhere except up.

"Look up. Red's coming and is carrying Spyro. But Spyro looks totally out of it," Hunter responded.

The others looked up and saw Red approaching. They could see Spyro in Red's arms. They saw that Spyro did indeed look pretty out of it. Soon, Red landed in front of the dojo.

"What happened?" Ragnar asked.

"I was just out flying when I happened to see Spyro going away form the Dragon World. I decided to follow him. It was a good thing I did. He wandered into Parasite Forest where he quickly fell victim to the parasite vines. He tried to burn through the vines but his flame wasn't strong enough. Before the vines could completely drain him, I burned through them," Red responded.

"What's Parasite Forest? I've never heard of such a place," Tomas said.

"Neither have I, and I've done research on a lot of places,'" the Professor said.

"That's because it was created. I'll explain it better when Spyro regains consciousness. He needs to know this as well," Red said.

"Let's take him inside the Dragon Shores Inn," Titan said before heading to the inn.

The others nodded. Red, still carrying the unconscious Spyro, followed Titan into the inn. Hunter, Ragnar, Bianca and Blink were close behind. Upon arriving, the went inside and into Spyro's room. Red placed Spyro on the bed before lying down next to him. Ragnar focused some of his Chi energy into Spyro.

"That should help him regain his energy," Ragnar said.

"Thank you Sensei 1," Red said. "You guys can leave if you want. I'll stay with him," he added.

The others nodded and left the inn. Red gently ran his hand down Spyro's face.

"You'll be just fine Spyro. I won't let Misteria kill you like she killed your mother," Red said quietly before yawning. He had been flying for a good while and was actually on his way back to the dojo to rest because he was getting pretty tired. When he saw Spyro heading into Parasite Forest, his adrenaline kicked into overdrive. Now that he brought Spyro back safely, the adrenaline left, leaving him more fatigued than he initially was. He was so tired, that he quickly fell asleep.

Spyro was quite drained of energy because he didn't start to regain consciousness until three days later. He groaned as he slowly began to stir. Red, who never left Spyro's side, looked towards Spyro upon hearing him groan, a look of major relief on his face. Red then saw a little movement, feeling even more relieved. Hunter had just entered the room when he saw Spyro coming to.

"He's coming around," Sparx said. He had come into the room and saw Spyro waking up.

Spyro slowly stood up and opened his eyes. He waited for his vision to focus. He saw Hunter, Sparx and Red looking at him. "What happened?" he asked."You were out for three days," Hunter responded.

"What!" Spyro exclaimed in disbelief.

"I don't think that I have ever been so worried in my life. I thought I lost you," Red said.

"All I remember is playing Hide and Seek with Hunter, Ember and Flame when I suddenly saw something. It was very fast because I kept barely seeing it. I decided to follow it, and it led me into that weird forest. Weird vines that seem to be flame resistant wrapped around me and somehow drained me of my energy. I blacked out, but not before seeing a larger stream of fire burn through one of the vines. Then I briefly regained consciousness, but my vision was very blurry and I couldn't see who was holding me. I can remember hearing Red talk to me. Everything is blank after that," Spyro said. 'What did Red mean by he thought he lost me?' he wondered, not know that Hunter and Sparx wondered the same thing.

"I was the one holding you. I was just out flying when I saw you. I had a bad feeling that you were being led to trouble so I followed you. Those vines don't resist flame. It's just that they were stronger than your flame. It was able to burn through the vines because my flame is stronger than yours. Then I brought you back here," Red said.

"Thank you Red. You saved my life," Spyro said.

"I can't take full credit. Sensei helped out as well by focusing some of his Chi energy into you," Red said.

"But what do you mean by my flame not being strong enough to burn through those vines?" Spyro asked.

"Let's go to the dojo. I'll explain there," Red responded.

Spyro took a step forward and face planted on the wooden floor. Red picked him up.

"Easy there. I can sense that you're still a little weak," Red said before leaving the inn. "You can ride on my back if you'd like Hunter," he added.

Hunter nodded and got on Red's back. Red then took to the sky, heading for the dojo. He arrived ten minutes later. He landed at the door to find Tomas waiting outside for him. Tomas was very relieved tpon seeing a conscious Spyro in Red's arms.

"Is he all right?" Tomas asked.

"He's still a little weak, but he's just fine otherwise," Red responed as Hunter dismounted him. Then he and Hunter entered the dojo with Tomas close behind. After climbing the stairs, he placed Spyro down.

Bianca, the Professor, as well as several of the Dragon Elders were there. They were all relieved to see Spyro awake.

"It's good to see you conscious Spyro," Ragnar said.

"Are you all right?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah, but what were those vines anyway?" Spyro asked.

"Those were parasite vines Spyro. They feed off of living energy. Whatever you saw led you to Parasite Forest. While the ground and air won't drain you of energy, everything else in the forest will. Not even the sun's rays can penetrate the forest because it actually absorbs the light," Red responded.

"So that's why the forest was so dark," Spyro said.

"That's right," Red said. "You couldn't burn through the vines because they were too thick for your flame's heat to have any affect. Because the other Elders and my flame is stronger than yours, we'd have no problem burning through those vines," he added.

"It seems like you've had experience in that forest," Tomas said.

"I have. All of them bad ones," Red said.

"Who led Spyro there though?" Sparx asked.

"It had to be Misteria. I've seen some pretty fast creatures but her speed makes even those fast creatures look like slugs," Red responded.

Spyro paled considerably upon hearing the name Misteria. After all the time that passed, he could never forget what happened what happened that fateful night. The others saw the fear in Spyro's eyes. Hunter, Bianca, the Professor and Sparx had never seen him so afraid before.

"What's got Spyro so spooked?" Hunter asked.

"I know what you mean. I haven't seen him scared like this before," Sparx said.

"And who's Misteria?" Bianca asked.

Misteria is a dragon. But she is evil. Out of all the evil beings, none can compare to her. Not even I was close to as evil as she is. She reigns over Parasite Forest. She can control nature. She created Parasite Forest, which is why only very few know about it," Red responded.

"It sounds like she's an enemy of yours," Sparx said.

"She's not just an enemy. She's my greatest enemy. She's been trying to kill me for a long time," Red said.

"Why is she trying to kill you?" Hunter asked.

"Because she was once my girlfriend," Red responded.

"What!" everyone asked.

"That's right. We once had a relationship. But I was young and very naive back then. At first, I had no idea that she was just using me. Over time, I found out how insincere she was about the relationship. I broke up with her. She was very angry with that and still hasn't gotten over it," Red responded.

"Whoa, talk about obsession," Hunter said.

"You said it. She must still think that if she can't have Red, no one can," Sparx said.

The look of fear in Spyro's eyes had never left. He was in his own little world right now.

"Hey Spyro. Are you in there?" Hunter said, waving his hand in front of Spyro's face.

"Are you all right?" Bianca added.

"Snap out of it Spyro," Red said, shaking Spyro.

But Spyro neither heard them nor felt Red shaking him. It was as though nohting else existed at the moment.

"I'm getting worried guys," Sparx said. "He won't snap out of it."

'He must be thinking about that fateful night. The night Misteria killed Karla,' Red thought. He had stopped staking Spyro, knowing that the only thing to snap Spyro out of it would be Spyro himself.

Flashback

It was a calm and clear night. A very young Spyro was asleep next to his mother. They both had a long day of helping the other dragons with tasks and were exhausted. Neither was aware that a sinister presence was just outside their house.

A beautiful green dragon was up in a nearby tree. But this dragon was evil. "So, this is the one that Red chose over me. Well if I can't have him, no one can," she quietly said.

The crystal clear sky suddenly turned ominous. A storm suddenly brewed up. Lightning and hail struck the house that Spyro and his mother were peacefully sleeping in. Spyro's mother had awakened to the sound of falling boulders just in time to see the hail smash through the roof. She reacted quickly, picking up Spyro and leaving the house.

"We meet again Karla," a sinister female voice said.

Karla whipped around and saw someone she hoped to never see. Misteria, why are you here?" she asked.

"I just wanted to pay a visit. Is there anything wrong with that?" Misteria responded.

"It is when you're a jealous witch," Karla retorted.

Misteria growled in anger at Karla's retort. "You'll pay for that insulting remark," she said. She then aimed a lightning bolt right at Karla.

Karla dodged the lightning bolt with no time to spare. Spyro, who was now very much awake, was scared silly at this point.

"What's going on momma?" Spyro asked.

Misteria froze upon hearing the small voice. She looked closer and smirked at seeing the small purple dragon in Karla's arms. "So, you have a child. I guess I have two things to get rid of now," she said.

"I won't let you kill my son Misteria," Karla said.

"But you'll have no choice in the matter," Misteria said.

"Yes she will," a deep voice suddenly said.

Misteria looked up and saw a red dragon approaching. The dragon landed in front of Karla. But the red dragon wasn't alone. More dragons soon landed as well. Misteria smirked all the same.

"I see the Calvary has arrived hmm? Well even all of you can't stop me," Misteria said. She aimed a lightning bolt at the red dragon.

"Red look out!" Karla shouted. She got in front of him and was struck directly. She fell to the ground hard. Luckily, she put Spyro down before jumping in front of Red.

"Momma!" Spyro cried.

"Karla no!" Red cried. He kneeled down beside his wife.

"You won't be able to save her. I directly struck her. Millions of volts of electricity are going through her body right now. She will be dead soon," Misteria said smirking. She saw that Spyro was out in the open. "And now for your little brat too," she said before aiming a lightning bolt at Spyro as well.

Tomas quickly deflected the lightning with his staff. Red continued to look at his dying wife. Soon, Karla breathed her last and died. Red screamed in rage. He looked at Misteria with rage-filled eyes.

"I will kill you for killing Karla," Red said angrily.

Tomas and the others gasped. They had never seen Red so livid before. Tomas then felt something in his arms. He looked and saw Red in front of him.

"Take Spyro away from here," Red said, anger still in his voice.

Tomas nodded before taking to the sky. He was soon out of sight.

"It's between you and us now. I won't let you kill my son," Red said.

"Oh but you won't be able to stop me. I can control nature itself," Misteria said as vines suddenly sprang from the ground, wrapping themselves around the dragons. "Now you will all perish," he said. She suddenly screamed in pain.

The vines had unwrapped themselves from around the dragons. Everyone looked up and saw Tomas returning, still holding his staff. Tomas soon destroyed the vines as well. Red took Misteria's distraction as an opportunity to strike. He pointed his staff at Misteria and shot a laser blast at her. Misteria screamed in pain once again as the laser struck her. The other Elders were preparing to strike if necessary as well.

"You've won tonight Red. But I'll be back to finish what I started," Misteria said before disappearing into the night, the sky becoming calm and clear again.

"Well she's gone for now," Tomas said.

Red spread his wings and prepared to take off.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Titan asked.

"I'm going to trail Misteria," Red responded.

"Don't be foolish Red. She will definitely be expecting you," Ragnar said.

Red simply flew off.

End Flashback

'That was when I slowly began to turn to the dark side and eventually betrayed the Elders. I got so bad that they exiled me. Wanting to have revenge, I created the Dark Gems to destroy the Dragon Realm. I'm still grateful that Spyro and his friends stopped me. I was far from being in my right mind then. Then the Shadow Realm incident came up. I will still always be grateful to Spyro for breaking the Sorcerer's spell over me. Sensei was right. I was being foolish. Now it looks like Misteria is back to carry out her threat,' Red thought.

Spyro had begun to come around again. He looked up and into many worried faces. "Sorry about that guys," he said.

"What could possibly make you scared like that?" Hunter asked.

"Misteria killed my mother. She would've killed me too, but Tomas stopped her," Spyro responded.

"What?" Hunter, Bianca and Sparx asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. Just the memory itself is too painful," Spyro responded.

'You don't know the half of it,' Red thought. The memory of that fateful night always plagued his thoughts at one time or another.

"I see you've been talking about me," a sinister female voice suddenly said.

Before anyone could react, a lightning bolt sent the doors flying off their hinges. One of the doors rocketed towards Spyro. Spyro couldn't see the incoming door because his back was turned to it. Hunter did see the door though.

"Look out Spyro!" Hunter shouted.

"Huh?" Spyro asked. Then he turned around. "Aaaahhhh!" he screamed upon seeing the large door rocketing towards him. He had no time to get out of the way. He closed his eyes, anticipating the heavy impact.

An aqua blue aura had already engulfed Red, who had also seen the door rocketing toward Spyro. He stretched his arms out towards the door. The door stopped in its tracks. Red then moved his arms to the left and the door smashed up against the left wall of the dojo. He had just performed the Move Spell.

After reconciling with the Elders, they taught him everything they knew. There was no need for him to learn the teleport and Banish spells since he already knew how to teleport and wasd the one who taught Spyro the Banish spell. Spyro opened his eyes upon not feeling the door's crushing weight on him and saw Red looking straight at him.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now. Thanks," Spyro responded before turning his attention to the now opened dojo. He paled upon seeing just who was in the doorway.

Red had a totally different reaction. He snarled upon seeing the figure. He walked over and stood protectively in front of Spyro, his paternal instinct kicking into high gear. "What are you doing here Misteria?" he asked snarling.

"I'm just here to finish what I started all those years ago. And it looks like the little one still fears me," Misteria responded smirking.

"You're not welcome here," Titan said emotionlessly.

"Why shouldn't I be welcomed here? I'm a dragon just like you. You welcomed Red back after his evil streak," Misteria said.

"Get out," Ragnar said just as emotionlessly as Titan.

Misteria growled in anger. "I would've considered leaving you alone. But since you won't allow me here, I'll finish what I started," she said before concocting a strong wind.

Everyone except Spyro was blown against the wall. Misteria wanted Spyro to be out in the open to she aimed her wind high enough to where he would still be standing. To prevent anyone from helping Spyro, she created a wind barrier. The wind barrier kept everyone against the wall.

"Now little one, say goodbye," Misteria said before inhaling deep.

Spyro seemed to be rooted to the spot. That's because he was paralyzed with fear.

"No! Spyro!" Red cried desperately as he struggled helplessly against the wind barrier, desperated to save his son.

The amulet around his neck suddenly glowed a very bright purple. Everyone had to shield his/her eyes because the amulet glowed so bright. At the same time, they could feel that the wind barrier was dying out. When the glow died down, the wind barrier was no more. Red quickly shot a fireball at Misteria, which sent her flying. Red then got back in front of Spyro as Misteria recovered from the attack.

"You always were a stubborn one," Misteria said. She was very annoyed now.

"I'm stubborn when I have to be," Red said. "I won't let you kill my son," he added, his staff suddenly appearing in his left hand.

Hunter, the Professor, Bianca and Sparx gasped upon hearing that. They were quite shocked. But they weren't nearly as shocked as Spyro.

'Red is my father?' Spyro thought incredulously. 'But why don't I remember?' 'Well now I know what he meant when he said he thought he lost me,' he then thought.

"Red and Spyro are father and son?" Bianca asked incredulously.

"That's something I wasn't expecting," Sparx said.

"Neither was I," Hunter said.

"That's quite a shocker for me as well," the Professor said.

"Leave now. I won't hesitate to use my staff on you," Red said, firing a warning laser blast to prove his statement.

The other Elders had also made their staves appear. "Go," they said emotionlessly, pointing their staves at Misteria.

"Fine, I'll leave. Mark my words Red. I won't rest until you and your precious little son no longer exist," Misteria said before flying away.

Red sighed and held his staff in the upright position again. He concentrated a bit, and the staff disappeared. He looked at Titan. "You were right." He turned towards Spyro and squatted. "I know you must have a lot of questions for me Spyro," he said.

Spyro only nodded.

"Well now we know why Spyro can be so stubborn at times," Sparx said jokingly.

"Hey!" Spyro said in resentment. Then he turned towards Red. "I think that it would be better to talk about this between the two of us," he then said.

Red nodded to that. He picked up Spyro and headed out the dojo. Then he flew off to an isolated area of the Dragon World. He arrived an hour later. Then he landed and put Spyro on his feet. Spyro then sat down.

Then Red sat down next to Spyro. "You probably want to know why the other Elders let you forget that I'm your father," he said.

Spyro nodded.

"Think about it Spyro. I would've been devastated to learn that my father is a traitor. They probably didn't want you to got that emotional turmoil," Red said.

"Yea, but why did you try to overthrow the leader anyway?" Spyro asked.

"My mind and heart had become too dark by that point. I was very power-hungry then. I have to re-live my foolishness everyday son. I will always be grateful to you and your friends for thwarting me. I will also always be grateful to you for breaking the Sorcerer's influence over me," Red responded.

"What was that strange light that came from your amulet?" Spyro suddenly asked.

"To tell you the truth Spyro, I really don't know. I was desperate to break free of the wind barrier and help you. It must've felt how desperate I was and reacted," Red responded. He didn't know that he was really onto something. He didn't know that the amulet had indeed reacted because it had actually felt that its help was greatly needed. He and the others would find out how later.

They ended up talking the entire day. Red saw an orange glow out the corner of his eye. He looked back and saw the sun getting lower in the sky.

"We've talked the entire day. The sun is setting," Red said.

Spyro looked ahead and saw the orange glow of the sun. He and Red watched the sunset. After the sun had set, Red picked up Spyro and flew back for the inn. They arrived to see Hunter waiting at the door. He smiled upon seeing them.

"The Elders told Sparx, the professor, Bianca and me everything. It's good that you're on our side again," Hunter said towards Red.

"I intend to keep it that way," Red said before putting Spyro down.

Then teny all walked into the inn. After dinner, Spyro went into his room with Red close behind. They both got into the bed, and Spyro snuggled close to Red.

"Good night dad," Spyro said with a yawn. He then fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Good night son," Red said smiling before he too fell into slumber.

And that's the end of this first chapter. Well what do you think? Do you want me to continue? I've actually been typing out this story on Microsoft Word and have it a little over halfway done. Moving right along, Preview for Chapter 2: Ineptune's Return: Spyro and friends have just about recovered from Misteria's attack. But they soon find out that they'll have more than her to deal with. A sinister alliance is made, which means double trouble for our heroes.

1 This comes directly from Spyro: Shadow Legacy. Ragnar is referred to as Sensei. But I decided to refer to Ragnar as Sensei only when he is spoken to for this story. The Move, teleport and Banish spells are also straight from the game.

K.T. Greenstripe: I want to thank you because reading your fic is what actually encouraged me to do a father/son fic with Red and Spyro. I had been wondering what if they were father and son, and reading your fic really helped me to develop my story. Only I have Red as a good guy because I honestly can't see him as a bad guy for long.


	2. Ineptune's Return

Okay, first I want to clear up some things up that I meant to mention in the first chapter. I'm sure that you've never heard of someone named Misteria. Well she's one of my two OCs for this story. You'll find out who the other one is a little later on. I guess that Karla could be considered an OC as well, even though she's not in the story because Misteria killed her. The second thing I wanted to clear up in case that some of you may have been asking to yourself is that there is no such place as Parasite Forest. That is one of the several made up places that you will see in this story. Moving right along, review for last chapter: Things have settled down since Spyro defeated the Sorcerer. But things can't stay peaceful forever as an old enemy resurfaced again, setting her sights mainly on Spyro. She first led Spyro to Parasite Forest, where he would've perished if not for Red following him there. Then she tried again at the dojo. If not for a mysterious power from Red's amulet intervening, she would've succeeded.

' is thoughts

Chapter 2: Ineptune's Return

It was a very peaceful night. It was greatly appreciated peace especially after what almost happened today. Spyro, a few of his friends and the Dragon Elders were talking at the dojo when a most unexpected and unwelcome guest paid a visit. Misteria had returned to finish what she started a long time ago when she killed Spyro's mother Karla.

She almost succeeded. After rendering the others powerless by keeping them against the wall with a wind barrier, she was about to burn Spyro to death. Just when it seemed like she would win, a bright light shone rom Red's amulet, destroying the wind barrier. Upon being freed from the barrier, Red sent a large fireball toward Misteria, sending her flying away from Spyro. Misteria recovered, and that's when Red revealed that he was Spyro's father, totally shocking Spyro, Sparx, the Professor, Hunter and Bianca. Then Red and the other Elders drove Misteria off by threatening her with their staves.

Afterwards, Red took Spyro to an isolated place where they could get re-acquainted again. They ended up talking for just about the entire day because they didn't return to the inn until an hour after the sun had set. They were currently asleep; Spyro snuggled in Red's arms. Sparx came into the inn. He went into Spyro's room and smiled upon seeing the sleeping pair. He quietly flew over and landed next to Spyro before falling asleep himself.

But not all were enjoying the peaceful night. Misteria had spent this night searching for someone. She had witnessed the battle between Spyro and Ineptune and was quite impressed with Ineptune's abilities. She had made it to Coastal Remains in about two hours due to her ability of great speed. It didn't take her long to find the object of her search.

"Curse that pipsqueak dragon. I can't wait to get another crack at him," Ineptune said angrily.

"You will get your chance," Misteria suddenly said.

Ineptune looked up and saw Misteria hovering in front of her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Misteria. I've come to make an alliance with you. I saw that battle between you and that little half pint Spyro. I'm quite impressed with what you can do," Misteria responded.

"What about Red though?" Ineptune asked.

"Red is on Spyro's side now," Misteria responded.

"What!" Ineptune exclaimed angrily.

"What I say is true. Red reconciled with the very dragons he turned against, including Spyro," Misteria said. "Just look at your partnership with me as a chance to get revenge against him and Spyro. It will be even sweeter for you because Red and Spyro are actually father and son," she added smirking.

Ineptune smirked as well. "I so do love family troubles, especially when I'm the cause of them. Take me to where they are," she said.

"You and I think along the same lines. I'm sure that this will be quite the alliance," Misteria said before blowing a powdery substance over Ineptune. "Just think of this as my way of sealing the deal. You now have the ability to control the water," she added before heading to where she last saw Spyro and the others.

"And I know just how to use this power," Ineptune said before following Misteria.

The next morning, Spyro awakened to the smell of bacon. He slowly turned his head and saw Red still sleeping. He smiled and slowly moved out of Red's arms. Then he headed downstairs. He found Hunter, Blink, Bianca and the Professor sitting at the table. It took time, but Blink had eventually gotten over his fear of being above ground. Hunter smiled and waved Spyro over. Spyro smiled and went over to sit with his friends.

"Morning Spyro," Bianca said.

"Good morning," Spyro said.

"Is that bacon I smell?" a voice asked from the top of the stairway.

Everyone looked to see Red coming down the stairs. He sat at the table as well.

"Morning everyone," Red said.

"Morning," Spyro, Sparx, Hunter, Blink, Bianca, the Professor and Artigan said.

Then everyone enjoyed a quick breakfast before leaving the inn. Artigan had let Sparx out so Sparx could get butterflies from the fodder roaming around.

"So; what do you want to do today Spyro?" Blink asked.

"I want to go swimming," Spyro responded.

"That sounds like a good idea," Bianca said.

"I'll pass on that one," Hunter said.

"I'll go as well. I'm a pretty good swimmer now," Blink said.

"The other dragons and I will be watching you. You never know what will happen with Misteria around," Red said.

The others nodded and headed off to the water. Bianca magically changed her clothing into swimwear. Blink took off his gloves. Then he, Bianca and Spyro ran into the water and dove in. Then they resurfaced and went for a swim. The others smiled as they watched the swimming trio. Things were quiet for an hour. Then Spyro suddenly felt something pulling him down. He opened his mouth to call for help, which was not a good idea. He took in water pretty quickly. He soon passed out from taking in so much seawater. He started going under.

He would've gone completely under if not for Bianca coming back to him. She saw Spyro's predicament and rushed over to help before he went completely under. She now held him so his head was above water. Suddenly, a whirlpool formed in front of them. They were quickly drawn into the current.

"Don't worry! We're coming!" two male voices shouted.

Bianca looked up ahead to see Red and Astor flying towards them. Red flew over towards Bianca and Spyro. He plucked the pair out of the water before they reached the center of the whirlpool. Then he flew back to shore. Astor soon landed on the shore with Blink. Spyro soon began to gag. He was coughing up all the water that he swallowed. Red landed and placed Bianca down. Then Bianca placed Spyro down. Spyro continued to cough up water. It took twenty minutes for him to cough up all the water he took in. Then he regained consciousness.

"Are you all right?" Hunter asked.

"I'm fine," Spyro responded. "But what happened?" he added.

"We don't know," Blink responded.

"All I know is that we were having a good time when I suddenly saw you going under. I rushed in to help keep your head above water. Then a whirlpool formed in front of us. Red flew over and picked us out of the water just in time," Bianca said.

"Thank you for saving him Bianca," Red said.

"It was no problem Red. You made the bigger save though. Spyro and I would've definitely been sucked into the whirlpool if not for you," Bianca said.

"But how could that whirlpool have formed though?" Sparx asked.

"From me," an unexpected voice responded.

Spyro whipped around and saw someone that he really didn't expect. "I thought I defeated you," he said.

"So did I son," Red said upon seeing whom the voice belonged to.

"Well I have returned now. I'm sure that you know what I want," Ineptune said.

"Who's the ugly fat chick?" Bianca asked dryly.

"That's Ineptune. She worked for me when I was evil," Red responded just as dryly.

"I work with Misteria now. As you witnessed, I now have the power over water," Ineptune said.

"So that explains the whirlpool," Sparx said.

"Yes it does. It also explains how Spyro went down so suddenly. I created a current to drag him down," Ineptune said. "Enough talk. Let's see how you handle this." She retreated back into the sea. When she was far enough, she thrust her arms forward, sending a gigantic wave towards shore. She then headed back to Coastal Remains.

Everyone back on land was wondering what Ineptune meant. They knew the answer when they saw a mega-tsunami 1 headed right towards them. Reacting simultaneously, Bianca grabbed Hunter's arm before levitating her and him above the wave. Astor picked up Blink and the Professor and flew straight up into the air. Red picked up Spyro and also flew straight up. The other dragons took to the air as well. Sparx simply flew higher. Everyone watched the wave crash onto the shore below, destroying everything in its path. The wave retreated back to the sea ten minutes later.

Red and the other dragons landed before Red put Spyro down. Astor put Blink and the Professor down as well. Bianca gently deposited Hunter and herself back on the ground. Sparx simply flew back downt o where he was before having to dodge the wave. Everyone looked at the destruction around him or her. Every building on the beach was demolished. Unknown to them, the wave had pushed fruther inland and halfway into the next town before receding.

"That was some wave," Hunter said.

"You said it," Sparx agreed.

"Well, it looks like even the water won't be too safe," Bianca said.

"For me that is," Spyro said sadly.

"Don't feel so down Spyro. We won't let Misteria and Ineptune ruin things for you," Blink said.

"We'll have to keep our senses alert though. Anything can happen at any time," Red said.

"I think we sould head someplace else for now. It's too open here," Bianca said.

"That's a good idea," the Professor said.

"The Artisans World may be a good place to head to," Spyro suggested.

"An excellent suggestion Spyro," Tomas said. "Let's teleport there immediately," he added.

Spyro looked depressed upon hearing the word teleport. After the whole Shadow Realm fiasco was over, he didn't think that the spells he learned would be of much use anymore. He stopped doing them and eventually ended up forgetting how to perform them. Red saw the distraught look in his son's eyes.

"What's wrong Spyro?" Red asked.

"It's just that I no longer know how to teleport nor any of the other spells and most of the abilities that I was taught. After the Sorcerer was defeated, I didn't think that I would need to use them any longer," Spyro responded.

"Don't worry Spyro. I'll help you teleport. Just make sure you're touching me," Red said.

Spyro nodded and put his paw on Red's left leg. Bianca held onto Hunter's arm. Sparx landed on Spyro's head. Tomas took a hold of the Professor and Blink. Then everyone disappeared. Gildas was spending the day in the Artisans Home. He was currently shooting sheep through a wooden basketball hope when he saw a white light out of the corner of his eye. He looked around to see quite a sight. He was very surprised upon seeing Red.

"It's nice to see you again brother," Red said smiling.

'So he has changed for the better. I can feel sincerity in his voice. He actually is glad to see me,' Gildas thought, smiling mentally. He and the others heard about the Dark Gem incident as well as the incident with the Sorcerer. So he had heard about Red's reconciliation. He smiled and said," It's good to see you back to your old self again." "Want to shoot sheep thorugh the hoop with me?" he offered.

"Sure. I've been wanting to have some fun," Red responded ebfore heading over to the wooden hoop. He grabbed a sheep as it was trying to flee adn threw it towards the hoop.

"Baaaaa!" the sheep cried as it fell straight through the hoop.

Adding to the first shot, Red shot the sheep through the hoop six straight times.

"Nice shooting Red. You apparently still have your edge," Gildas said upon seeing the same sheep fall through the hoop time after time.

"I'm actually quite surprised Gildas. I haven't done this in quite a while," Red said before sinking the sheep into the hoop four more times.

"Let's head to Town Square," Spyro said to Hunter and Bianca.

"All right Spyro," Hunter and Bianca said.

"I'll be down there soon. I need to do a few things there anyway," Gildas said before sinking a fourth consecutive sheep through the hoop.

"All right. See ya there," Hunter said before he, Bianca and Spyro headed off to Town Square.

They arrived at the whirlwind several moments later. They went into the whirlwind one at a time and were standing in front of the Town Square portal. They went through the portal and arrived in the middle of the town. Nils was just finishing breakfast. He looked up and saw the trio. He smiled and headed over to them.

"Greetings Spyro. It's been a while hasn't it?" Nils said.

"It sure has," Spyro said.

"And who are your friends?" Nils asked.

"The rabbit on my left here is Bianca. The cheetah on my right is Hunter. They've helped me out a lot," Spyro responded. "So how have things been since Gnasty Gnorc left?" he added.

"Things have been peaceful for the most part. The bulls still give us problems every now and then though," Nils responded.

"Well here comes one now," Hunter suddenly said nervously.

The others turned around and saw a bull charging right at them.

"I'll take care of it," Spyro said. He charged right at the charging bull.

The bull was knocked off its feet. It quickly got back up though. Spyro then breathed fire at it. It quickly turned tail and fled before the fire touched it.

"That was quick work Spyro. You haven't lost your touch," Nils said.

Then Spyro, Bianca and Hunter went strolling around the town. An hour later, they saw Gildas and Red talking to Devlin and Thor. They went over for a friendly chat as well. Devlin was facing the oncoming trio. He looked up and saw them coming.

"It looks like we're about to have some company," Devlin said smiling.

Red, Thor and Gildas turned to see Spyro, Hunter and Bianca approaching. They smiled, and Red waved the trio over. Soon, Spyro, Hunter and Bianca were in front of Red, Thor and Gildas.

"So are you enjoying yourselves?" Red asked.

"We sure are," Bianca responded.

"We had a little bull trouble but Spyro took care of it," Hunter added.

"The bulls have always been pests. We always drove them off though," Thor said.

"So, are you done with your visit?" Devlin asked.

"Not right as this moment. We've still got another half of the town to cover," Spyro responded. "We'll see you before we leave," he added before he, Hunter and Bianca left to stroll through the remainder of the town.

Things were uneventful for an hour. But it wouldn't remain uneventful for long. Misteria was flying over Town Square. Ten minutes later, she spotted Spyro walking with Hunter and Bianca. She smirked at her luck.

'It won't be too hard to render the rabbit and cheetah useless. I can finally finish what I started,' she thought before descending towards the ground. She landed right in front of them, smirkingupon seeing the fear in Spyro's eyes.

"Can't you find someone else to bother?" Hunter asked. He was pretty annoyed now.

"Aw, but where would the fun be. I love seeing Spyro afraid of me," Misteria responded smirking. "I'll be taking him now," she added.

"No you won't," Bianca said before stepping in front of Spyro.

"Oh please. You believe you have a chance against me?" Misteria asked laughing.

"Don't underestimate me," Bianca responded.

Misteria fired a lightning bolt at Bianca. Bianca created a shield, deflecting the lightning bolt, which caught Misteria off guard. Bianca used the distraction to hit Misteria with an ice spell. But Misteria quickly broke out of the ice that encased around her.

"So, you have magic. It doesn't matter. You still don't stand a chance against me," Misteria said before blowing Bianca back with a gale.

Spyro was also blown back. He tried to get back up but was blown back down since the gale was still blowing. He struggled through the fierce wind but was able to look at Hunter. "Find my father!" he said over the wind.

Hunter nodded and went back to where he last saw Red. Bianca recovered from the wind attack and sent a fire spell towards Misteria. Misteria simply blew the spell away with her wind. She then whipped up a tornado, with the intent on rendering Bianca powerless. Bianca tried to move out of the way, but the tornado ended up sucking her in. The force of the wind left her unable to move.

"Now that she's been rendered useless, I'llbe taking what I came for," Misteria said, slowly approaching Spyro.

"S...stay away from me," Spyro said before breathing fire.

Misteria simply put the flame out with a little stream of water from her hand. She then ran circles around Spyro. She went so fast that Spyro couldn't keep up with her. He suddenly felt a blow to the back of his head and blacked out. Misteria grabbed him and flew away. When out of sight the tornado put Bianca down before disappearing.

'I hope Hunter found Red. Red is Spyro's best chance now,' Bianca thought before teleporting to where she last saw Red.

Meanwhile, Red and Gildas were still talking with Thor and Devlin. Red suddenly looked up. He could sense that something was very wrong.

"Is something bothering you?" Gildas asked.

"It's just that something feels terribly wrong," Red responded.

"Red!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Red whipped around and saw Hunter coming his way. He knew that something was wrong just from seeing the desperate look in Hunter's eyes. "What's the problem?" he asked.

"Spyro's in big trouble," Hunter responded.

"What happened?" Red asked, anxiety clearly in his voice.

"I can tell you," Bianca responded as she appeared in front of them. "Misteria somehow knew that we were here. I tried to fight her off, but she was too strong for me. She locked me inside a tornado and made off with Spyro."

"There they are now," Devlin asked worriedly, pointing upwards. He had heard something and looked up to see Misteria carrying Spyro away.

The others looked up and saw Misteria flying through the air. They could see a struggling Spyro in her arms. Spyro looked down and saw Red with Devlin, Thor, Gildas, Hunter and Bianca.

"Dad, help me!" Spyro cried.

"I'm coming son!" Red shouted, taking to the air to give chase.

Misteria looked down and saw Red starting to close the gap. She flew faster and higher in hopes to lose Red. But Red wasn't having any of it. His staff suddenly appeared in his hand. He fired an ice ball at Misteria, hoping to slow her down. But Misteria was already way too far ahead for him to get an accurate shot. It seemed hopeless.

Ten minutes later, another dragon suddenly flew in front of Misteria. It was Alvar. He was just out for a flight when he saw a green dragon. He flew in closer and saw Spyro struggling in the dragon's arms. He immediately figured out that Spyro was in trouble and flew in to help. "Release Spyro now," he said.

"Like you can stop me," Misteria said before blowing Alvar away.

Alvar recoverd quickly and flew straight at Misteria. She flew up in time to avoid the charge. Alvar turned around and appeared to charge again. Misteria flew back up again to dodge the charge, but Alvar suddenly stopped and breathed fire. The unexpected move blew Misteria back a little.

She recovered quickly though. They went back and forth exchanging blows for half an hour. Misteria was pretty annoyed by this point and created a down draft around Alvar to end the see saw battle. Alvar was forced downwards. He had no choice but to retreat. Misteria stopped the down draft before continuing on, only to have Red block her path this time. Alvar had unknowingly given Red enough time to catch up. Red saw Misteria force Alvar to retreat and silently thanked Alvar for giving him the time he needed to catch up. Red pointed his staff at Misteria.

"Release him," Red said lowly.

Misteria smirked. Instead of putting Spyro on the ground, she let him go and flew away. Spyro couldn't really glide because the only thing all around him was open air. There was nothing to land on. He screamed as he plummeted through the air.

"Spyro!" Red cried, diving after his falling son. He soon caught Spyro. "I've gotcha," he said before breaking the dive and flying back up. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I am now thanks to you," Spyro responded. "We should head back to the others. I'm ready to head back to the Artisans Home," he added.

Red nodded and flew back to where Devlin and the others were. The staff in Red's left hand had disappeared, and Red wrapped his now free arm under Spyro, carrying Spyro Bridal style now, well Bridal style for a four-legged dragon at any rate. Red arrived where Devlin adnd the others were about half an hour later. Alvar was there as well. The others were relieved to see that Spyro was safe. Red landed and put Spyro down.

"Thank goodness you're safe Spyro," Gildas said.

"The thanks go to dad and Alvar. Misteria got far ahead of dad, but Alvar just happened to be in the area. He held Misteria at bay for as long as he could, which gave dad enough time to catch up," Spyro said.

"Thank you for that Alvar. I didn't think I would be able to catch up," Red said.

"It was now problem. I'm just glad that I was able to help," Alvar said.

"How did Misteria know we were here though?" Spyro suddenly asked.

"She was probably still around after Ineptune left. If so, then she heard where we were going. Unfortunately, she knows her way around the Dragon Worlds as well as the other dragons and I do," Red responded.

"But why did she take so long?" Hunter asked.

"She probably only heard that we were going to the Artisans Home. She can appear and disappear like the wind at any given time. My guess is that she appeared there before us but didn't stay long enough to find exactly where Spyro was going," Red responded.

"That makes a lot of sense," Bianca said. Then she heard a rumbling sound. She looked ahead and saw a group of bulls stampeding their way. "We have bull trouble. It's bigger this time," she said, taking several steps backward.

The others looked ahead and saw the stampeding bulls.

"Leave them to me. We don't have time to fool around with them," Red said, his staff appearing in his hand. He was very annoyed at this point. He shot ice balls from his staff.

The bulls quickly hightailed it out of there. Red's staff then disappeared again.

"Well, I think that we should be going. I've had enough experiences for one day," Spyro said.

"Despite all that happened, it was nice of you to visit. Feel free to come back anytime," Devlin said.

"Thank you. I will," Spyro said before he, Red, Gildas, Hunter, and Bianca headed over to the Return Home whirlwind.

They came back out of the Town Square portal. Spyro simply glided to the ground below. Red glided down with Bianca, and Gildas glided down with Hunter. Wanting to relax, they all headed to the beach at Stone Hill. But what they didn't know was that Ineptune was lurking beneath the water. They sat down on the sand and looked at the clear horizon. The waves appeared normal. But that was about to change pretty quickly. Using her power over water, Ineptune located Spyro's position. Spyro was the closest to the water. She used her power to raise the wave level up a little, but not enough to cause suspicion.

Spyro was just enjoying the clear view of the horizon when he suddenly felt something pulling at his legs. The pull only continued to strengthen. That was because the sand beneath him was eroding, causing the wave level to rise as more sand eroded from underneath him. He began to get pulled into the water.

Red, who was watching Spyro the entire time, knew exactly what was happening. "Oh no you don't Ineptune!" he said before rushing in to aid Spyro. He plucked Spyro out of the water's current and headed further inland. "Let's get off this beach," he added before putting Spyro down.

"Let's head to my house," Gildas said.

Everyone nodded and headed back to Gildas's house. They entered and would finally get the chance to relax. Spyro got into a comfortable position before taking a much-needed nap.

"Spyro has the right idea. Let's all take a nap," Hunter said.

The others nodded before getting into comfortable positions themselves. Red wrapped his arms around Spyro from behind. Spyro looked at Red and smiled before going back to sleep. Red soon went to sleep as well. The others soon followed.

Well, here's the end of the second chapter. Well Misteria isn't playing around is she? Moving right along, preview for Chapter 3: The Imperfect Storm: Red and Spyro have some long-awaited father/son togetherness. But as usual, the peace won't last. A far from natural storm is brewing and will give our heroes one heck of a time. Will they be able to ride out this very fierce storm? Stay tuned to find out.

1 A mega-tsunami is the result of a large displacment of water. Mega-tsunamis can easily be as high as 1,000 ft., maybe even higher. I learned this fact from watching a special on the Discovery Channel called Mega-Tsunami: Wave of Destruction.   
I'm going to be going on vacation to Vegas tomorrow. I'll be there until probably early next Saturday.


	3. The Imperfect Storm

Recap: Spyro and friends hoped to have a peaceful time after a battle with an enemy Spyro feared the most. But the peace was short-lived as another familiar enemy made herself known. Ineptune, who was now working with Misteria, had revealed a nasty surprise. She was given the ability to control water and used it in two attempts to drown Spyro. Fortunately, both attempts failed. But not too long afterwards, everyone on the beach had to dodge a mega-tsunami. Still wanting to have some peace, Spyro and the others headed to the Artisans World where Spyro, Hunter and Bianca headed to Town Square. Aside from the bulls, things were pretty peaceful. But that was shattered when Misteria showed up. Luckily, Red was able to prevent Misteria from making off with Spyro. Then Spyro, Red, Gildas, Hunter and Bianca headed to Stone Hill. They had beach trouble because Ineptune found her way there and attempted to send Spyro to a watery grave once again. But once again, Red was there to stop that from happening.  
' is thoughts

Chapter 3: The Imperfect Storm

About three hours have passed since Spyro, Red, Hunter, Bianca and Gildas had returned from Town Square. After all the excitement that happened, they had all taken a nap, which gave them the much-needed rest that they all needed. They were currently awake now, rested and refreshed. 

"That was a good nap," Hunter said.

"You said it. Facing off against Misteria really took a lot out of me," Bianca said.

"So is there anything else you want to do Spyro?" Red asked.

"Yes there is dad. I want to spend some time alone with you," Spyro responded smiling.

Red smiled as well. "Of course my son," he said before he and Spyro headed outside. Once outside, he picked up Spyro before flying off.

Hunter and the others smiled as well.

"They need to have time alone," Bianca said.

"They sure do. After all that's happened, they've got an awful lot of catching up to do," Gildas said.

Meanwhile, Red and Spyro were soaring through the clouds. Red had used the Move spell to move Spyro to his back. Then Red did a series of loops through the air. Then he did some horizontal spirals before spiraling upwards and ending in a loop. Spyro laughed through the aerodynamics. He was having a lot of fun. Red was laughing himself. He was also having a lot of fun.

"Wow dad. I didn't know that you could do this. I hope that we can do this more often," Spyro said.

"Don't worry about that Spyro. We will be doing this more often," Red said smiling. "Make sure you have a good grip on me. You'll really love this one."

Spyro tightened his grip a little in anticipation. Red started with a horizontal spiral through the air. Then he smoothly transitioned into a large vertical loop. Still showing flawless grace, he pulled into an upwards spiral. Then he dove straight down for a few minutes before pulling up into another loop. He was right about Spyro liking the stunt because Spyro was laughing the whole time.

"That was really fun," Spyro said.

"I knew you'd like that. I had fun myself," Red said.

Spyro then stood up to glide. Red knew the intention and got ready. Spyro glided off Red's back. He soon felt himself in his father's strong arms.

"It must be great to be able to fly," Spyro said.

"It's one of the most wonderous feelings you'll ever have. If you want to fly as well, then let's head to Sunny Flight where you can fly on your own," Red said. He then landed at Gildas's house.

Gildas was just outside when he saw Red land. "Back so soon?" he asked.

"No. Spyro wanted to be able to fly on his own for a while so we're heading to Sunny Flight," Red responded.

"Okay. I'll let Hunter and Bianca know," Gildas said before going back inside.

"Shall we go then?" Red asked Spyro.

"Let's," Spyro simply responded.

Red picked up Spyro and flew to the Return Home whirlwind. Several moments later, he flew down into the whirlwind and came out of the Stone Hill portal. Then Red put Spyro down, and they both headed for where Sunny Flight was. They came to the wall that the portal was behind, and Spyro jumped on the stones. The wall came down to reveal the Sunny Flight portal.

Red simply flew across the pool and landed in front of the now-revealed portal. Spyro came up right beside him, and went through the portal with Red close behind. The moment Spyro entered the portal, he felt himself flying, Red flying alongside him. They saw the trains going through the tunnels. They looked at each other. They had the same mischievous look in there eyes as they smiled at each other. Without even saying a word, they flew in opposite directions.

Spyro took out the train with a simply burst of flame. He then flew through the other tunnels, taking out the remaining seven trains. Then he flew inside the narrow entrance to the cave with the chests, destroying the three in the entrance. He didn't see the other five and immediately knew that Red had taken those out. He then flew out through the large space in the roof and began flying through the arches.

While going through the arches, Spyro saw Red pursuing the planes. There were three remaining. Red looked up and saw Spyro heading his way through the arches. He gave Spyro a quick wave before continuing after the now two remaining planes. After flying through all the arches, Spyro headed back to see that Red had taken out the remaining planes.

"That was a good workout," Spyro said.

"It was indeed," Red agreed. "Let's just fly around for a while now," he added.

Spyro nodded and he and Red simply flew around the level. An hour later, they decided to head back to Gildas's house. Spyro simply flew into Red's arms before Red teleported back to Stone Hill. Upon arriving at Stone Hill, Red put Spyro down and they went to Gildas's house. Bianca was just outside when she saw them coming.

"Did you have fun?" Bianca asked.

"I had a blast," Spyro responded before telling her all about his and Red's day.

"It sounds like you both had a very good time," Bianca said smiling.

"We sure did," Red said smiling.

"So are Hunter and uncle Gildas inside?" Spyro asked.

"No they aren't. They went out hunting for tonight's dinner about half an hour ago. They should be back soon though," Bianca responded.

Meanwhile, Hunter and Gildas were doing pretty well. Gildas took out the sheepherders while Hunter went after the rams. Hunter ended up killing three rams.

"I think one more should do it Hunter," Gildas said.

"Okay," Hunter said. He took careful aim and easily shot another ram.

Gildas then put the four dead rams into a net that he brought. He then tied the ends together and slung the now bag-shaped net over his shoulder. Then he and Hunter headed back for his house. They arrived half an hour later. Upon going inside, they saw that Red and Spyro had returned.

"Did you guys have fun?" Hunter asked.

"We had a blast," Red responded.

"Glad to hear it," Gildas said before putting down the net.

"Wow, you guys did pretty good out there," Bianca said.

"I'll say. Between the four of us, that's enough meat for at least four days. You always were one who got more than what needed Gildas," Red said smiling.

"Hey, you never know whatmight happen. It's always good to be prepared," Gildas said.

Suddenly, the house shook.

"What was that?" Spyro asked.

"I don't know," Bianca responded before the house shook again.

"Let's get outside and fast," Hunter said.

Gildas picked up the meat from the hunt. Everyone quickly got out of the house and into drenching rain and howling wind.

"It was sunny. How did the weather change so suddenly?" Gildas said.

"It's Misteria," Red said. "We should get inside the castle because it's a sturdier building," he added.

Everyone started towards the castle. They made sure to go slowly due to the fierce winds. The wind was so strong that it could blow any of them away at any second. But it almost didn't matter in Spyro's case. Being the smallest of the group, he was really struggling against the wind.

"Hold out a little longer Spyro! We're almost there!" Hunter said.

Suddenly, a huge guys of wind blew Spyro off the ground and through the air.

"I'm coming Spyro!" Red shouted. He flew off after Spyro.

The wind was actually at Red's back, making it easier for him to fly through the air. He quickly made his way to Spyro, wrapping his arms around Spyro.

"I've gotcha," Red said as he flew back towards the others. He was flying against the wind now so it was a slow go. He landed in front of the castle and entered. Then he set Spyro down and Gildas shut the door.

"Thanks dad," Spyro said.

"You're welcome," Red said.

"That was a close one Spyro," Bianca said.

"I know," Spyro said.

Just then, a crack of thunder sounded.

"It looks like we've made it just in time too," Gildas said. 

Then everyone heard a loud growl. Then they looked at Spyro. Spyro blushed in embarrassment, earning a chuckle out of Red.

"I guess I'm hungry," Spyro said sheepishly before his stomach growled again.

"It's about time to eat anyway," Hunter said. He was cooking some of the meat he and Gildas caught on a fire that he and Gildas started up.

Ten minutes later, the meat from one of the rams was ready to be eaten. Everyone sat around the fire to eat. The storm wasn't letting up outside. It only intensified. But the castle was holding out fine against the ever-intensifying storm, much to a particular dragon's dismay.

Misteria was at the center of the storm she created. She was already in a foul mood after Red thwarted her attempt to capture Spyro yet again. 'I don't understand. How can that castle be strong enough to withstand my storm?' she angrily thought. But then she smirked. 'I guess that now it's time to show them a surprise move.' She conjured up a few tornadoes and sent them through the castle windows.

Meanwhile, everyone inside the castle was enjoying the cooked ram when the wind suddenly and quickly began picking up. They looked towards the windows to see a very unbelievable sight. Swirling columns of wind were coming through the windows. The freak tornadoes merged into one freak tornado upon coming into the castle.

Instead of destroying everything around it like tornadoes usually do, this tornado was created for only one purpose. Spyro felt the tornado's swirling winds quickly pulling him toward it. Gildas attempted to go in and grab Spyro, but the winds blew him against a wall. He slowly got back up. Spyro was now off his feet. He screamed as he was pulled into the swirling funnel.

"What are we going to do? Misteria clearly doesn't want any inteference," Bianca said worriedly.

The tornado then slowly made its way to the window. Red flew in frotn of the window the tornado headed towards.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked. He couldn't believe that Red actually flew in front of the tornado.

"Have you lost your marbles?" Gildas added, just as incredulously.

"For that matter, have you lost your mind altogether?" Bianca asked in horror.

Red ignored all of them; his only concern being to get Spyro out of the unnatural twister. He closed his eyes in concentration and teleported inside the twister. He immediately felt the swirling winds trying to blow him back out. He crossed his arms in fronot of his face. It gave him very little help against the wind.

"Spyro where are you?" Red asked through the strong winds, struggling to just look around. "I'm up here!" he heard in response. He struggled against the winds to look up and barely made out Spyro being held in place at the tower ceiling.

The winds inside the tornado intensified. Red was slowly being blown outside of the tornado. He struggled hard to get to Spyro, but it was a losing battle. He was quickly tiring out from struggling against the winds. Although Spyro was pretty high up, he saw his father losing the battle with the winds.

'He has to get out. The wind is too much for him to handle,' Spyro thought. "You've got to get out of here! The tornado's too much for you!" he said desperately.

"I'm not giving up until I get you out of here!" Red quickly said back. He knew that he wouldn't be able to even stay aloft much longer. But he continued through the punishing winds anyway, determined to get Spyro out. 'I won't let Misteria take him from me,' he thought resolvedly. He suddenly saw a purple light. He looked down and saw that his amulet was glowing again. 'What's going on?' he thought as the light washed over him.

Spyro, who had also seen the purple light, wondered the same thing. 'There's that light again. But what's it doing?' he thought as he watched the light continue to wash over Red.

Red felt his energy being restored. If that wasn't good enough, he could also no longer feel the tornado's winds affecting him. Quickly taking advantage of the sudden good fortune, he flew up and wrapped his arms around Spyro. The windshield that covered Red had expanded a little to cover Spyro as well.

"Are you okay?" Red asked.

"I am now," Spyro responded. "But how do we get rid of this unnatural occurrence?" he added.

Responding to Spyro's question, the amulet glowed brighter. Soon, Red and Spyro had to close their eyes from the growing brightness. When the light died out, they opened their eyes to see that the tornado was gone. The windshield around them was also gone, as it was no longer needed. Red landed but still held onto Spyro.

"I've seen you do some pretty crazy things bro. Out of all of them, I have to say that this was the absolute craziest thing I've ever seen you do," Gildas said.

"Love can make you do crazy things Gildas," Red said before looking back at Spyro.

Spyro looked up into Red's eyes. He saw love shining through them. He smiled and nuzzled his father's chest. "I love you too," he said.

Red smiled and hugged Spyro closer. He then put Spyro down a few moments later. Another few moments later, the storm started to break up. The thunder, lightning and hail had stopped. The rain fell slower and slower. The wind began to slowly die. A few minutes later, the clouds parted to reveal the sun again. The wnid died to just a gentle breeze. After staking it out in the castle, everyone then returned to Gildas's house. Well, they returned to what was left of it. The storm left the house in shambles.

"Well, it looks like we'll be staying in the castle until the house is rebuilt," Gildas said.

"Let's salvage what we can. There has to be things that are still in tact," Spyro said.

The others nodded. They looked around the shambled house. They found blankets and pillows that were still useable. Everything else was just about totaled. They took the blankets and pillows and returned to the castle. Gildas was suddenly wondering about the strange light he saw. Hunter and Bianca had also seen the purple light. Having seen it before, Hunter and Bianca knew where the light came from.

"What was that strange light?" Gildas asked.

"It came from Red's amulet. Four days ago, Misteria came to the dojo and tried to kill Spyro. She had Red, the other Elders, Hunter and me against the wall with a wind barrier. We couldn't do anything to help Spyro who was at her mercy. She was about to burn Spyro to death when a bright light came from Red's amulet. The purple light broke down the wind barrier, which allowed Red and the other Elders to drive Misteria off," Bianca responded.

"It seems that there is indeed something very special about that amulet. Ever since I first saw that amulet, I felt something unique about it since I have yet to see another amulet like the one Red wears," a different voice said.

Everyone looked towards the door to see Ragnar standing there. He came to Stone Hill to meditate when the storm suddenly came up. Like Red, he knew that Misteria was behind the sudden storm and figured that Spyro and Red had to be somewhere close by. He was braving the storm himself when he saw the purple light shine brightly through the castle windows.

"What brings you here Sensei?" Spyro asked.

"I usually come here to meditate. When the storm came from out of the blue, I knew that you were here because the weather doesn't change in the blink of an eye like it did a few hours ago. Even though I was a good distance away from the castle, I would have to be blind to miss the very bright light that shone through the windows. You could literally see that light from miles away," Ragnar responded.

"I've had this amulet for a pretty long time. It's never reacted at all until four days ago," Red said.

"Maybe there's a reason about that," Ragnar suggested.

"But what is it Sensei?" Red asked.

"I can only make a guess. The other Elders and I can channel our powers into our amulets. But I think that your powers are different from those of your amulet. If that's the case, then you'll have to find a way to link your magic to the amulet's magic. It mave prove to be a great help in protecting Spyro," Ragnar responded. He wond find out that hit hit the nail on the head.

"I always thought that this amulet was just another piece of jewelry since it hadn't done anything. After what's been happening, I now realize that I don't know anything about it," Red said. /Soon, you will know everything. The time to reveal my past draws nearer/ he heard a female voice say in his head. 'I must be going crazy. I'm hearing voices now,' he thought.

"Is something wrong?" Bianca asked. She saw the spaced out look on Red's face.

"I heard an unfamiliar female voice inside my head. She said something about revealing her past," Red responded.

"Maybe the voice you heard inside your head has something to do with your amulet," Ragnar suggested.

"Maybe you're right," Red said. 'Maybe being able to communicate with the voice will help to establish the link between the amulet and me,' he thought. He didn't know how right he was in thinking that. He also didn't know that time would be of the essence because he and the others would soon have yet another foe to deal with.

In a faraway shadowy land, the Sorcerer was plotting revenge against Spyro. After his plans for draining the Dragon and Forgotten Worlds as well as Avalar of their magic were foiled, he went into hiding. His power had grown stronger over the year span, and he was just about ready to exact his revenge against Spyro.

"I seriously underestimated that little dragon last time. This time, I won't make the same mistake. This time, I will eliminate him, and no one, not even Red will be able to stop me," the Sorcerer said.

Uh oh! Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, the most powerful enemy that Spyro has ever faced is back again. Moving right along, preview for Chapter 4: The Sorcerer Returns: After dealing with one of the worst storms ever, our heroes won't catch much of a break. The Sorcerer quickly hatches a plot that will be a devastating blow to our heroes if successful. Will our heroes be able to foil this plot? Stay tuned to find out.

I'm back from my vacation in Vegas. I had a wonderful time. One of the things I did was see "Superman Returns". I thought that it was a really awesome movie.


	4. The Sorcerer Returns

Recap: After resting from the events that happened at Times Square and the shoreline of Stone Hill, Red and Spyro went out for some much-needed and long-expected father/son time. They both really enjoyed the time they spent together because they both had a lot of fun. But fun usually comes at a price. After Hunter and Gildas returned from hunting, a fierce storm began ravaging the landscape. To take shelter from the storm, Spyro, Red, Bianca, Hunter, and Gildas went to the castle. The castle held firm as the storm kept intensifying. But then, a freak tornado made its way into the castle, sucking up Spyro. Red got in front of it before teleporting inside it. But it seemed hopeless as the winds were taking their toll on him. Suddenly, his amulet glowed brightly again, allowing him to not only get to Spyro, but also destroy the freak tornado. Then the weather gradually returned to normal.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
_Italic words_is Red mental talk  
**Bold words **is anyone else who comes in contact with the amulet mental talk (for this chapter only)  
' is thoughts

Chapter 4: The Sorcerer Returns

Everything was peaceful and calm. It was now early evening. The sun had set, letting the moon and stars light up the dark sky. Spyro was currently looking out of one of the castle towers' windows, enjoying the peace that had returned again after it was crashed earlier.

After the situations at Town Square and the beach area of Stone Hill, peace had returned. After having a good nap, he wanted to have some quality time with his father. Red happily agreed to that and took him flying, doing aerodynamics as well. They headed to Sunny Flight a half hour later because Spyro wanted to fly on his own. They had flown around for a little over an hour, taking out the trains, planes, chests and arches along the way. Then they returned to Stone Hill to recuperate. Only half an hour later, things took a bad turn. The weather that was sunny and bright suddenly became very stormy. For Red, it was all too clear that Misteria was behind the sudden storm.

Red, Gildas, Bianca, Hunter and Spyro headed towards the castle to take refuge from the storm. They almost made it before a big wind gust blew Spyro away. Red instantly went after him. Getting to Spyro was the easy part because he actually flew with the wind. Getting back to the castle was the tricky part because he flew against the wind.

He made it though. For about two hours, the stormonly intensified. The castle though was very well built because it held solid as a rock. Totally angry at seeing that the castle would not fall, Misteria pulled off a sneaky move. She created tornadoes and sent them through the castle windows. Once inside the castle, the tornadoes merged into one.

Spyro immediately began to get sucked into the unnatural twister. Gildas tried to help but was blown against the wall. It looked hopeless as Spyro was sucked into the twister. Before the twister could make it through the window though, Red got in front ot it to the shock and horror of Bianca, Gildas and Hunter.

Then Red had actually teleported inside the tornado and immediately felt the winds trying ot send him out. He struggled to get to Spyro through the intensifying winds inside the center of the twister. He was seriously losing the battle but he refused to give up. It seemed hopeless again when his amulet suddenly glowed again. The amulet's light both restored his energy and gave him protection against the tornado's winds. He took advantage of the amulet's help by successfully getting to Spyro. Then the amulet dissipated the tornado. Not too long afterwards, the storm itself had died down."Enjoying the night?" a voice asked.

Spyro turned around and saw Bianca standing there. "Yeah," he responded. "After a storm like the one Misteria created, it makes nights like this a lot better." Because his back was now facing the window, he was unaware that Red now hovered just outside it.

"It does. That was one heck of a storm. None of the storms I've been through have come close to the one today," Bianca said. Since she was facing the window, she saw Red there. She saw him wink at her and knew that he wanted to see Spyro's reaction to suddenly seeing him there. 'I want to see how Spyro reacts myself,' she thought.

Spyro looked back out the window. "Aaaahhhh!" he screamed, jumping backwards. He went back to the window to see Red hovering just outside it.

Red and Bianca had their hands over their mouths, trying hard not to laugh. It was in vain because they first started chuckling. Then they burst out laughing at the same time. Red laughed so hard that he had a little trouble staying aloft. Bianca on the other hand was laughing so hard that she was doubled over. She also had tears coming from her eyes.

"The...look on...your face...Spyro. It...was...priceless," Red said through laughs.

Spyro had to laugh as well. "You got me good dad. I wasn't expecting to see you," he said.

"That's what...I was...hoping for," Red said.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Hunter asked. He heard Spyro scream. He was worried until he heard Red and Biana laughing pretty hard. Wanting to know what was going on, he went up to them and saw Red just outside the window.

"Red...scared Spyro," Bianca said through laughs. She recovered long enough to tell Hunter what happened before laughing again.

Hunter started laughing himself. "You're right. That is funny," he said before going back down.

Red came back inside the castle and closed the door. He couldn't help the chuckles that came out. Bianca came down and they gave each other a high-five.

"Thanks for not telling him I was there," Red said.

"I wanted to see his reaction as much as you did," Bianca said.

"Well I think that we should get some sleep. It's been quite a day for all of us," Gildas said.

"All right," Bianca said. "Come on down Spyro. It's time to go to bed!" she called out.

"Here I come!" Spyro called back down. He ran down the tower stairs. He found out the hard way that he shouldn't have run down then.

The stairs were pretty steep. Spyro tripped over himself and began tumbling down the stairs. He hit an arrow-like step and went flying towards the wall like an arrow being shot at a target. He closed his eyes, anticipating the very painful impact. Fortunately, it never came. Spyro opened his eyes to see that he was suspended in midair. He shifted and felt strong arms shift with him. He looked up and into his father's worried gaze.

"Are you all right?" Red asked. He heard the sound of running and very literally flew up the stairs because he knew that Spyro would end up tumbling down them. He knew about the awkward step and positioned himself halfway between that step and the wall to make the critical catch.

"I am now," Spyro responded.

Red landed and placed Spyro down.

"What were you thinking Spyro?" Gildas asked.

"I wasn't thinking. I forgot how steep these stairs are," Spyro responded.

"Make sure to remember that these stairs are steep. You might not be so lucky next time," Gildas said.

"I will," Spyro said. He then got on one of the pillows before curling up and going to sleep.

Bianca brought one of the blankets over and covered Spyro with it. The others were about to settle down to sleep as well. Hunter happened to be looking out a window when he saw a little yellow ball of light coming through. The yellow ball of light turned out to be Sparx.

"I was wondering where you guys were. I leave for twenty minutes and come back to seee that you've left," Sparx said.

"Shh! Spyro's asleep," Gildas said quietly.

Sparx looked around Gilda to see that Spyro was indeed asleep. Bianca lifted the blanket enough for Sparx to be able to slide upder. Sparx did just that and fell asleep. Then Bianca and the others took the four remaining pillows and blankets and got settled in before falling asleep as well.

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer began his journey to the Dragon World. "The time for revenge draws closer. If all goes according to plan, I won't have to be involved that much. Red won't be able to do anything to stop me because he'll be the one who terminates Spyro. It shouldn't be hard to have him under my power again," he said snickering. 'What a perfect revenge it wold be to have Red responsible for his own son's death,' he thought smirking.

Other than the Sorcerer on the move, the night was fairly peaceful. The next morning, Spyro awakened first. He saw his little friend Sparx sleeping next to him. Upon no longer feeling the blanket, Sparx awoke as well. He saw Spryo and smiled.

"Morning Spyro," Sparx said yawning.

"Morning," Spyro said.

"So what do you want to do?" Sparx asked.

"Let's just go for a walk," Spyro responded. He made sure not to make too much noise because he didn't want to disturb the others. He carefully walked up the stairs and glided out of the second-story window. When on the ground, he and Sparx went on a stroll. Along the way, Spyro told Sparx all that happened yesterday.

Sparx had to laugh when he heard how Red scared Spyro.

"I was hoping I'd find you here Spyro," a familiar voice said an hour later.

Spyro turned his attention towards the voice and saw Astor up ahead. He smiled and walked over towards Astor. "How are you today?" he asked.

"I'm just fine," Astor responded. "Are you fairing up all right?" he added.

"Besides having Misteria and now Ineptune after me, I've been holding up pretty good," Spyro responded.

"So, where are Red and your friends Bianca and Hunter?" Astor asked.

"Oh, they're back at the castle with uncle Gildas. I wanted to just go for a stroll this morning but I didn't want to wake them up," Spyro responded.

"Happy stroll then," Astor said before flying off.

Spyro and Sparx continued their stroll. Meanwhile back at the castle, Red and the others had awakened to find Spyro and Sparx gone.

"How did Spyro get out?" Hunter asked.

"He glided out a window," Red responded simply.

"Should we look for him?" Bianca asked.

"Not yet," Gildas responded.

Red had silently opened the door and quietly snuck out. 'I'm sorry Gildas. It's just that I have a bad feeling,' he thought before taking to the air to search for Spyro and Sparx.

Half an hour, Spyro and Sparx were on their way back to the castle. They had run into Lindar and Carvin during the stroll as well and had a friendly little chat for several moments. What Spyro and Sparx didn't know was that the Sorcerer was following them. The Sorcerer waited until he was sure that any other dragons weren't around. Then he appeared right in front of Spyro.

"I thought I defeated you," Spyro said.

"You did. After my embarrassing loss to you, I went into hiding. I spent the time enhancing my powers. I am a lot stronger than when you faced me last time. And it appears that unlike me, you let your magic fade away. I can sense that you have only a tiny amount of magic left in you. You wouldn't stand a chance against me now," the Sorcerer said smirking, the smirk not able to be seen because of the mask. Then he knocked Spyro out with a sleeping spell. He was about to pick up Spyro and disappear when an ice beam cam in between him and Spyro.

"Stay away from him Sorcerer," Red said upon landing in front of Spyro, staff at the ready.

"Well, the father has arrived. This is going better than I hoped," the Sorcerer said smirking.

"I won't let you take him," Red said.

"But you won't have a choice in the matter," the Sorcerer said before knocking Red out with the same sleeping spelll. He then disappeared with both Red and Spyro.

"Red! Spyro!" Sparx cried. He then flew for the castle as fast as his wings would allow.

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer had reappeared in his chamber. Then he created a dark energy cage and put Spyro in it. Then he used his powers to levitate it and hang it from the ceiling. He then levitated Red onto a table and put dark energy bonds around his wrists and feet. Then the Sorcerer snapped his fingers, undoing the sleeping spell.

Spyro awakened to find himself in a cage. "What's going on?" he asked. He tried to flame his way out, but the bars absorbed his flame.

"You won't be able to get out of there so don't even try," the Sorcerer said.

Red soon awakened. He found himself unable to move much. He struggled against his bonds but it proved futile. He then turned his attention back to the Sorcerer. "What do you want?" he asked dryly.

"You're in no position to make demands. You won't be once you're under my power once again," the Sorcerer said.

"I will never work for you again," Red retorted.

"You won't be able to stop me Red. I'll have the satisfaction of watching you kill your own son," the Sorcerer said before staring the spell. 'And even though Spyro is pretty high up, I've made it so that he can see and hear everything that's happening down here,' he secretly added.

Red tried to fight off the spell. 'I won't let him get away with this. I won't allow him to make me kill Spyro,' he thought. He fought a losing battle however.

The spell proved to be a very strong one. It powered through the mental defenses he built around his mind. Although high up, Spyro could hear everything the Sorcerer said and saw sweat rolling down Red's face, a clear sign of struggling against the spell. He watched helplessly as the sweat on Red's face began to dry up, meaning that the spell was taking effect.

'I wish that there was a way to help dad,' Spyro thought helplessly.l

"I won't let you win Sorcerer," Red said.

"The spell is taking affect. It won't be much longer until you're under my power once again," the Sorcerer said.

/Not if I can help it/

Red heard the voice in his head. 'There's that voice again,' he thought.

Suddenly, the amulet around Red's neck glowed brightly. Red closed his eyes from the amulet's brightness. The Sorcerer also had to sheild his eyes.

"What's this?" the Sorcerer asked.

'What's going on?' Red wondered. He soon had his answer.

The bonds holding Red to the table disappeared, and he quickly got off. He also no longer felt the Sorcerer's spell in his mind. Just as the spell was about to take full effect, the amulet's power greatly overpowered and destroyed the spell. Red quickly used the Banish spell to send the Sorcerer flying into a wall, knocking the Sorcerer unconscious as well. His staff suddenly appeared in his hand and he used it to create ice bonds, chaining the Sorcerer to the wall.

'That should hold him for a while,' Red thought before his staff disappeared. He then looked up and saw the bottom of a cage that was dangling from the ceiling. He flew up towards the cage, amulet still glowing. He was soon in front of Spyro. Spyro looked at his father in awe. The amulet shone like the moon.

"It's all right Spyro. The amulet's power freed me from the Sorcerer's spell," Red said before opening his arms out.

Spyro nodded in relief. Then the amulet glowed a little brighter. Spyro saw several of the cage bars dissipate. He jumped out of the cage and into his father's waiting arms. The amulet then fired a beam at the wall, creating a big hole before going neutral again. Red flew out of the hole before teleporting back to Stone Hill. He reappeared over the castle and landed at the door. Sparx just happened to be outside when he saw them land.

"Spyro! Red! You're all right!" Sparx shouted in relief.

"We wouldn't have been if not for the power of dad's amulet," Spyro said.

"The others are inside. I'll tell them to open the door," Sparx said.

"No need. I'll teleport inside," Red said.

Sparx nodded and flew inside through a window. Red appeared inside the castle and put Spyro down. Hunter, Bianca and Gildas were overjoyed and relieved upon seeing Red and Spyro.

"Thank goodness you two are all right," Bianca said.

"Sparx told us what happened," Hunter said.

"Yes. The Sorcerer has returned," Red said before he and Spyro took turns explaining what happened after they were captured.

"It's for certain now. The amulet obviously wants to help us," Hunter said.

"I've realized that too," Red said. "Sparx, do you know if Sensei is still here?" he added.

"Yes he is. I saw him on my way here," Sparx responded.

"Can you take me to him?" Red asked.

"Sure. Follow me," Sparx responded before flying off. 'I just hope that he's still where I saw him,' he thought.

"May I tag along?" Spyro asked.

"I don't see why not," Red responded, not yet knowing that decision would be a good thing. He picked up Spyro and flew off after Sparx. 'Maybe Sensei can help me link to the amulet,' he thought.

They arrived at the area ten minutes later. To Sparx's relief, Ragnar was still there. Ragnar was meditating. Sensing that he had company, he came out of meditation in time to see Red and Sparx land before Red put Spyro down. The look on Red's face told him that something was up.

"What happened?" Ragnar asked.

Red told him what happened. Ragnar was very disturbed to say the least. He feared that the Sorcerer would return. Now he learned that his fear came true.

"I see. Having to deal with Misteria and Ineptune is bad enough. Now we have the Sorcerer to deal with as well. This is very bad news indeed," Ragnar said. "But it's clear that you need to link with your amulet," he added.

"That's why I came Sensei. I was hoping that you could help me," Red said.

"I'll do the best I can," Ragnar said. He then touched the amulet before closing his eyes in concentration.

/Hello Wise One/ the voice said.

**Hello. May I ask who you are? **Ragnar said.

/You may indeed. I am Cosma. When I was alive, I was the most powerful fairy in existence/

**So you're really dead so to speak** Ragnar asked.

/Only my body is dead. As you're hearing, my soul is still very much alive/

**How did your soul become in this amulet?** Ragnar asked.

/I sealed my soul into this amulet. I wanted to continue to help others. Before my body died, I cast a spell on the amulet that would allow my soul to dwell in it, even though my soul would forever remain in the amulet because the spell is permanent/

**Although I have a hunch about my next question, I'll ask anyway. How come you didn't help Red until recently?** Ragnar asked.

/It was because Red had hardened his heart and became evil. When Misteria killed his wife, I decided to give him a hand. But I sensed the growing darkness in his heart, which was the beginning of him becoming evil. I remained dormant because the forces of evil and I don't mix. In fact, I was evil's worst nightmare when I was completely alive/

Ragnar took his hand off the jewel.

"I heard everything she said," Red said.

"You don't have to just hear. You can communicate with her as well. Just clear your mind of all thoughts and focus on getting through to her. That's why you haven't been able to communicate with her yet," Ragnar said.

Red closed his eyes. He cleared his mind of all thoughts before opening his eyes again. _Can you hear me?_

/Yes I can, well done/

_How are we able to do this though?_

/I honestly don't know/

_How can I fully link to you?_

/That's fairly simple. All you need to do is fully open your mind to me. I can complete the link from there/

Red did as Cosma told him. In just several seconds, he began to slowly feel the amulet's power flowing into him and mingling with the power he already had. The process took only an hour. After the link was fully established, Red opened his eyes again.

"How do you feel?" Ragnar asked.

"I feel stronger Sensei. Stronger that I have ever felt before," Red responded.

Ragnar nodded. "And I know that you will put your increased power to good use," he said.

"Yes I will," Red said. Then he picked up Spyro and flew back to the castle.

Sparx soon caught up and flew alongside Red. They arrived at the castle ten minutes later to find the door busted open. They landed, and Red put Spyro down. Spyro rushed inside with Red and Sparx close behind. They saw Bianca, Hunter and Gildas trapped in a shadow cage. The Sorcerer was standing nearby.

"I knew that you would return so I decided to wait," the Sorcerer said. "Plus I want some payback for your icy stunt Red," he added.

"Let them go," Red said.

"Hand over Spyro, and I will let them go," the Sorcerer said.

"Don't do it Spyro," Bianca said.

Spyro looked on with indecision. 'I don't want to be at the Sorcerer's mercy, but I don't want him to hurt my friends and uncle either. I don't know what to do,' he thought.

/One of your new powers is invisibility. You can use it to get past the Sorcerer and free the others/

_Thank you Cosma_ He saw that the Sorcerer wasn't paying any attention to him. Quickly taking advantage, he concentrated and became invisible. He easily got past the Sorcerer and stood next to the cage. 'It's a good thing that Spyro was with me or the Sorcerer would've already had him,' he suddenly thought.

A purple aura engulfed Red, and he touched two of the cage's bars. The bars disappeared. Hunter, Gildas and Bianca were amazed upon seeing the two cage bars suddenly disappear. Their amazement grew as two more bars disappeared. Deciding to ask later, they quietly stepped out of the cage. Spyro had seen what happened.

'How did those bars suddenly disappear? I know the Sorcerer didn't do it. But the important thing is that my friends and uncle are free,' he thought. He looked around and didn't see Red anywhere. 'That's strange. Where did dad go?'

"I'm being more patient than I usually am. What is your decision?" the Sorcerer said.

"I won't go with you," Spyro said.

"Then your friends will forever be my prisoners," the Sorcerer said.

"You may want to look again," a familiar deep voice said.

The Sorcerer looked back and saw that his hostages were now free. "How did you get out?" he asked astonished.

"I helped them get out," the voice responded.

This time, the voice seemed to come from every direction. Everyone looked around, but there appeared to be no one.

"Is that you Red?" Bianca asked.

"Yes Bianca," the voice responded.

"But where are you?" Sparx asked.

Sparx, Spyro, Hunter, Bianca and Gildas were so focused on knowing where Red was, that they didn't see the Sorcerer approaching Spyro from behind. A scream turned their attention. They saw a large hole in the left wall.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," Red said in the direction o fthe hole. When he saw the Sorcerer's intentions, he quickly used the Banish spell. 'My powers really are stronger. I didn't think that the Sorcerer would actually go flying through the wall. The strange thing is that I think I only used a very small amount of power to do that,' he secretly added. He was right. He blasted the Sorcerer through the wall without even being close to breaking a sweat.

"Try what again?" Spyro asked.

"The Sorcerer attempted to take you from behind," Red responded.

'How did Red get so powerful so quickly? He was nowhere near as powerful as I was earlier,' the Sorcerer thought before getting back up. He ended up not only going clean through the wall but also fifty yards away from it. He reappeared inside the castle. "You won today Red. But you won't be so lucky next time," he said before disappearing.

It was only then that Red came out of his invisibility. He was still next to the cage that now disappeared as well. He saw the shocked expressions on the others faces. "Are you guys all right?" he asked.

"Yes we are. Thanks to you," Gildas responded.

"How did you do that though?" Hunter asked, still very amazed.

"I was able to link with the amulet. That enhanced my powers, as well as giving me new powers and abilities. As you just witnessed, invisibility is one of my many new powers," Red responded.

"I'll say. He blasted the Sorcerer right through the wall," Sparx said.

"It's a good thing that Spryo went with you Red. Otherwise, the Sorcerer would've had him by now," Hunter said.

"I know," Red said.

"So what happens now?" Gildas asked.

"The others and I will have to go someplace else. I really don't want you to be involved in this uncle," Spyro responded.

Gildas nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess I can get to work on repairing my house," he said.

"So, where are we going to go?" Hunter asked.

"I have a place in mind. I can sense that Misteria is close by so I won't say where the place is. Spyro, Sparx, you'll know the place when we arrive," Red responded.

The others nodded. Spyro used his tail to touch Red's leg. Sparx landed on Spyro's head. Bianca held Red's hand while Hunter held her free hand.

"Is everyone ready?" Red asked.

The others nodded before Red teleported. When they appeared at the destination, Spyro and Sparx smiled. This was their second favorite place in the Dragon World next to Dragon Shores. Hunter and Bianca looked around in awe.

"This place is beautiful," Bianca said.

"Yeah, but what is this place?" Hunter asked.

"We're in Lofty Castle. This is one of my and Sparx's favorite places. When the Gnorcs left, it returned to one of the most peaceful places you can go to in the Dragon World," Spyro responded.

"It is indeed a very peaceful place," an approaching voice said.

Spyro turned to see Mudada coming, the others also turning toward Mudada. He smiled and said, "Hi there."

"Hi there yourself," Mudada said smiling. Then he gasped in shock upon seeing Red. "Is that you cousin?" he asked.

Red smiled and said, "Yes Mudada, it's me."

Mudada came up to and hugged Red. "When you turned evil, I was afraid that I would never see you again," he said.

Red returned the hug. "I will never be that way again. Spyro helped me realize just how foolish I was," he said.

"Don't forget about us cousin Red," two voices said.

Red and Mudada parted. Red turned to see Useni and Baruti approaching.

"We've also hoped for the best," Useni said.

"Our wish has apparently come true," Baruti added before he and Useni did a group hug with Red.

"It looks like our trip here is turning into a bit of a family reunion," Bianca said smiling.

"It sure is," Sparx said smiling.

"I honestly didn't think that we'd run into you guys so soon," Red said, parting from the group hug.

"Well surprise then," Mudada said.

"And who might these two be?" Baruti said upon seeing Hunter and Bianca.

"Useni, Baruti, Mudada, these are our friends Hunter and Bianca. Hunter is the cheetah, and Bianca is the rabbit," Spyro responded.

"Well then, we'll show them around," Useni said.

"That will be great. I can't wait to see the ins and outs of this place," Bianca said.

And that's the end of this chapter. Remember what happened with Red's amulet in chapters 1 and 3? Well now you know the reason why it reacted. Now that the new ally has been revealed, and that she and Red are now completely linked to one another, things are slowly starting to look up for our heroes. Moving right along, preview for Chapter 5: Confrontations: Spyro, Red and friends are spending the day in the beautiful Lofty Castle. Elsewhere, a battle for supremacy rages as the Sorcerer and Misteria fight to prove who is the strongest. Who will win this battle? And will there be something else here? Stay tuned to find out.

Well, I've been working for three weeks now. I'm a Temp employee with Volt in Downtown LA. My hours are from 9am-5:30pm M-F, and I don't get home until about 6-6:30. I go to bed at 10pm Sunday truough Thursday because I want to have a really good night's sleep before heading out to work at about 8am because it can take at least half an hour for me to get there. With those three things, I really want to just relax when I get home. I have still worked on my stories in my spare time. I actually have this story completely finished. Hopefully, I'll have this next chapter up by tomorrow or Sunday.


	5. Confrontations

Recap: Spyro and friends had just about recovered after Misteria's freak storm. The night got of to a humorous start after Red scared the crap out of Spyro. But they would only get peace for this night. The next day, Spyro confronted the one enemy he really didn't want to see again, which was the Sorcerer. He hatched a devastating plot that almost worked if not for the power of Red's amulet. With Ragnar's help, Red learned that his amulet literally had a soul of its own. Red was also able to link to his amulet, greatly enhancing his power as a result.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
_Italicwords _is Red mental talk  
' is thoughts

Chapter 5: Confrontations

It is currently mid afternoon. Spyro, his friends and Red are now in the peaceful and beautiful Lofty Castle. After such an action-packed morning, they were really looking forward to having some peace. Earlier today, Red and the other Elders' worst fear came true, which was the Sorcerer's inevitable return. The Sorcerer had managed to capture both Red and Spyro. He attempted to put Red under a spell then have Red kill Spyro. His plot almost worked when Red's amulet glowed brightly, freeing Red from the both the Sorcerer's spell and the shadowy bonds that held him to the top of a table.

After being freed, Red sent the Sorcerer flying into the wall using the Banish spell. Then he turned the tables and bound the Sorcerer to the wall with solid ice. Then Red flew up to the cage holding Spyro prisoner. The power of his amulet evaporated several of the cage's shadowy bars, allowing Spyro to jump out. Then Red flew out of the Sorcerer's lair and teleported back to Stone Hill. But the ice only held for a little while because the Sorcerer had gotten free. He had teleported to the castle of Stone Hill and noticed that Red and Spyro weren't present. Knowing that they would be back, he took Hunter, Bianca and Gildas hostage.

Red and Spyro and Sparx were with Ragnar at the time, Ragnar was able to help Red link with the power of his amulet, which actually started with being able to communicate with the soul sealed inside. The soul revealed herself as Cosma, the most powerful fairy to have ever lived. When Red successfully communicated with her via a mental link, Cosma then linked her power to Red's power.

Then Red, Spyro and Sparx returned to the castle to find the door busted in. They rushed inside to find their friends and uncle/brother in Spyro and Red's case inside a large shadowy cage with the Sorcerer standing next to it. The Sorcerer gave an ultimatum, Spyro for the freedom of the others. Cosma had something different in mind however. She had told Red about his ability to become invisible. Red didn't hesitate to use it. He easily got past the Sorcerer and then evaporated several of the cage's bars, allowing the prisoners to esape. He let the Sorcerer know about the now free prisoners.

Because Red was still invisible at the time, everyone except the Sorcerer looked around, trying to know where he was. The Sorcerer, tried to take advantage of the distraction by coming at Spyro from behind. But Red quickly put a stop to the attempted sneak attack. That drove the Sorcerer off for the moment and Red became visible again.

Then Spyro decided to move on since he didn't want his uncle to be involved. Red took Spyro and friends to Lofty Castle, where a small family reunion take place. Spyro and his friends found out that Mudada, Baruti and Useni are actually Red's cousins. Mudada and Useni are currently showing Hunter and Bianca around. Baruti on the other hand is talking with Red and Spyro."So what brings you here?" Baruti asked.

Red had a serious expression on his face upon hearing that question. "I'm afraid it's not just for a visit, as much as I wish it was. Spyro and I have three enemies to deal with. One is my old arch nemesis Misteria," he responded.

"She's back?" Baruti asked incredulously.

"Yes she is," Red responded. "She's tried to capture and/or kill Spyro about four times in just two days. The other two enemies are my former accomplice Ineptune and the Sorcerer," he added.

"I heard about what the Sorcerer did. I thought he was gone for good," Baruti said.

"I wish," Spyro said.

"So did the others and me," Red added.

"Who exactly is Ineptune though?" Baruti asked.

"Ineptune is a mermaid, and an ugly one at that. I defeated her at Coastal Remains, but now she's teamed up with Misteria. Misteria gave her power over water," Spyro started. "She almost drowned me with it as well. Bianca, Blink and I were out for a swim on the beach a couple of days ago when I suddenly got pulled downward. In my attempt to call for help, I rapidly took in seawater. I then blacked out."

"Bianca helped keep his head above water. But Ineptune created a whirlpool in front of Bianca and Spyro, which began to pull them toward it. Luckily, I pulled them out of the whirlpool before they reached the center. About several moments later, Spyro started to cough up water. I landed on the beach and put Bianca down so she could let go of Spyro. Spyro had swallowed so much seawater that it took a while for him to get it all out," Red finished.

"I see. So you won't have any problems with Ineptune here," Baruti said.

"Yeah. There isn't even close to enough water to support her here," Sparx said. "Let's just hope ol' sour grape Misteria doesn't show up."

"Amen to that one Sparx," Spyro agreed.

"I second that," Red said.

Meanwhile, Hunter and Bianca were enjoying the sights. They were currently taking a breather on a castle roof.

"This is a wonderful place. I wouldn't mind living here," Bianca said.

"Yeah, the views are awesome. I haven't seen views better than this so far," Hunter said.

"I've seen better views at High Caves, Tree Tops and Cliff Town," Mudada said.

"Maybe we'll go visit those places someday," Bianca said.

"I hope so too," Hunter agreed.

Meanwhile, Misteira was furious about not being able to find where Red had taken Spyro. "How did he know that I was there? He has never been able to sense my presence before," she said angrily.

"That's because his powers have gotten stronger. I sensed that earlier this morning," an unfamiliar voice responded. "That means that he's able to sense his surroundings a lot better than he initially did."

Misteria turned around to see a dark hooded figure standing next to a tree. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I am called the Sorcerer," the figure responded.

"I've never heard of you," Misteria said.

"But I've heard of you Misteria. You have the ability to control nature," the Sorcerer said.

"How do you know about me?" Misteria asked. 'Something about this guy creeps me out,' she secretly added.

"Red told me all there is to know about you. It's amazing how much you can learn when you put someone under a spell," the Sorcerer responded.

"Then why is he with the other dragons if he was supposed to be under a spell?" Misteria asked.

"I underestimated his little half pint son Spyro. At the time, Spyro was more powerful than I gave him credit for. But the reason why you've been having the success that you're having against him is because he's nowhere near as powerful as he was when he faced me. His magic was pretty strong back then. But he obviously didn't keep practicing his magic because he has very little of it now, whereas I have worked on my powers and have gotten stronger," the Sorcerer responded. "I tried to put Red back under my spell this morning. It would've worked if not for that amulet of his."

"That amulet of his is getting to be as much of a thorn in my side as Red is. It also prevented me from killing that pipsqueak off," Misteria said.

"So, it appears that you too have had trouble," the Sorcerer said.

"Yes I have. It appears we have a common goal, which is terminating that little brat," Misteria said.

"I'll admit that we do have a common goal. But I would rather be dead than team up with a weakling like you," the Sorcerer said.

"Who are you calling a weakling?" Misteria asked angrily, the sky suddenly clouding up.

"Well, you have a strong temper. But do you honestly think that your power can compare to mine?" the Sorcerer responded.

"I'll show you who's the weakling. If you won't join me, then you are against me. I will not have anyone who's against me killing Red and Spyro and taking the credit. Prepare yourself Sorcerer. Prepare to lose that is," Misteria said before flying into the air, a fierce storm now kicking up.

"Oh I won't be the one to lose. You really won't stand a chance against me," the Sorcerer said before getting ready to battle.

Misteria started the battle with a tornado. She sent the tornado barreling towards the Sorcerer.

"You've got to do better than that," the Sorcerer said before creating an electric wall between himself and the twister.

The twister began to quickly dissipate upon colliding with the electric wall. There was soon nothing left of the unnatural twister. Then the Sorcerer concentrated the energy from the electric wall into a single beam of electrical energy, sending it straight for Misteria. Misteria countered with her own lightning, but the electrial beam was too powerful for even her. Most of the energy from the beam, went through her lightning like a hot knife through butter, hitting her dead on.

Misteria was knocked out of the sky. She quickly recovered though and was soon airborne again. "You're more formidable than I gave you credit for. But I refuse to lose to someone as creepy as you," she said. "Let's see how you handle a little hail," he added before causing hail to fall from the sky.

But the hail that came from the sky was anything but little. The hail that fell from the sky was at least the size of a grapefruit.

"I can handle your ice just fine," the Sorcerer said before erecting a shield.

The hail bounced off the shield. But the shield wasn't only for defense. The Sorcerer sent an electric ball through the shield. Misteria attempted to counter again but failed as it was too strong for her. The hail stopped upon her being knocked out of the sky once again.

"I suggest you call it quits now. I haven't even broken a sweat yet," the Sorcerer said.

"I don't think so Grim Reaper," Misteria retorted.

Although the Sorcerer's expression could not be seen, he was pretty angry after that retort. "I was only toying around with you. But playtime is over after that insulting remark. Get ready to be humiliated Misteria," he said.

"The only one who will be humiliated is you. I too have been holding back. I've been using less power than you have. We'll see how good you can really are and if you can hold out long enough before you do start to sweat," Misteria countered before she and the Sorcerer began to duke it out again.

Meanwhile in Lofty Castle, Spyro and Sparx found Hunter and Bianca half an hour later. They were on the roof of another Castle.

"Hiya Spyro," Hunter said.

"Hey," Spyro said.

"Where's your father?" Mudada asked.

"Oh, he wanted to be alone for a while," Spyro responded.

"Maybe he wants to tune his power," Bianca suggested.

"Maybe you're right," Sparx said.

Bianca was indeed right. Red was in an isolated part of Lofty Castle. Cosma was helping him to learn his powers. One thing Red found out was that he now had control over the elements as well. He knew that the ability would be a big help in battling Misteria. He spent several hours learning his powers and abilities. Among his new abilities and powers was the power to heal and greatly enhanced physical strength and speed..

/You've done very well Red. You're a pretty fast learner/

_I always was_ He then flew off in search for Spyro and the others. He hovered in the air only several seconds later.

/What is it/

_I sense that Spyro's in big trouble_

/There's no time to lose then. You have to hurry/ 'It looks like Red already has a very strong fatherly bond with Spyro. He'll know when Spyro is in danger from now on. This is really good news,' she secretly added.

Red streaked through the sky, hoping that he would be in time. 'I'm coming Spyro. Just hang on,' he thought.

Meanwhile, Spyro was very much in serious trouble. Apparently, not all of the enemies had left Lofty Castle. Spyro and friends had wandered into an area where the devil-looking enemies had gone into hiding. They had quickly engulfed Spyro. Then they shot electrical energy from their tridents at Spyro. Because the devils fired at the same time, Spyro was unconscious and seriously hurt, but still alive.

"What can we do?" Bianca asked.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. If we do anything, they won't hesitate to kill Spyro," Useni responded sadly.

Suddenly, five of the devils were sent flying through the air.

"Where did that come from?" Hunter asked.

"From me," a familiar deep voice repsonded.

Hunter, Bianca, Baruti, Useni, Mudada and Sparx looked back ot see Red coming, landing several seconds afterward. They were beyond relieved to see him. Red gasped in horror when he saw how badly hurt Spyro was. Red's horror quickly turned to anger, as he glared at the devils. If looks could kill, then the devils would've had a one-way trip back to where they belong.

"You'll pay for what you did to my son," Red snarled.

The devils just laughed before one of them picked up Spyro and flew away.

"Oh no you don't" Red said before going after it.

One of the devils tried to intervene. But Red was definitely not in the mood. His staff appeared in his hand and he fired an ice ball at the devil. The devil was iced over and shattered upon impact with the ground.

/I can link you to your staff so you won't need to summon it. It won't take long/

_That would be very helpful_

/All right/

Red's amulet then began to glow. Then gem on his staff also began to glow. The power from Red's staff flowed straight into the amulet. It soon flowed into Red as well. Several moments later, the gem on his staff turned into dust. The dust quickly blew away. Then the staff itself disappeared. Red felt something different about the amulet as well. He looked at the amulet to see that it was now literally attached to him.

/It's done. I also made the amulet like a second skin to you. No one, not even you will be able to remove it. Just think of it as a way to make sure that we'll always be in contact with each other whether it's just to talk or you need advice/

_Thank you_ He then continued on.

It really didnt' take too long for Red to catch up to the fleeing devil. He soon blocked its path.

"You won't be getting away," Red said.

The devil shot electrical energy out at Red. Red simply countered with an electrical beam from his palm. Then the devil made a monumental mistake. It stabbed Spyro with its trident right in front of Red. Spyro regained consciousness as the pain really intensified. He screamed in extreme pain before going unconscious again. The devil heard a low, menacing growl and looked to see that Red was the one growling.

The growl had turned to an angry roar as the sky darkened. Soon, lightning began flashing all around them. A lightning bolt struck the devil's hand, making it release the trident. Another bolt struck its head, causing it to let go of Spyro. Then a big bolt directly struck it, obliterating it. Then the sky cleared up, as Red dove after Spyro. He soon caught Spyro and quickly headed back to where the others were. He arrived in only five minutes. Upon arriving, he saw that the other devils had been taken care of. He landed and gently placed Spyro down. The others gasped in horror when they saw the three stab wounds to Spyro's back. Red kneeled beside his badly wounded son, tears flowing down his face.

"Spyro needs help and fast," Sparx said.

"But what can we do? Only someone who has the power to heal can help him. I'm afraid that that's not me," Bianca said.

/Don't lose hope Red. You have the power to heal remember? Use it to heal Spyro/

_I forgot about that. Thank you so much Cosma_

/Hey, I'm here to help/

Then, Red closed his eyes in concentration. Everyone watched as a white aura engulfed Red. Red softly put his hand on Spyro's back. He then let his healing power flow through Spyro. The others looked on in awe as the wounds in Spyro's back began to mend. What they couldn't see was that the internal damage from all the electricity was also being repaired. Several minutes later, Spyro was completely healed.

Spyro soon regained consciousness. "Ugh, what happened?" he asked.

This time, Red shed tears of joy. "Thank goodness you're all right," he said, hugging Spyro to him.

"What happened though?" Spyro asked.

Bianca and Red took turns telling Spyro what happened.

"Thanks dad. You really saved my life this time," Spyro said.

"You don't have to thank me Spyro," Red said.

"I feel that I do. That devil could've killed me," Spyro said.

"I love you too much to let something like that happen. You mean the world to me Spyro," Red said.

'It has only been five days that Spyro knew that Red was his father. But it already seems like years. And they continue to grow closer to each other,' Bianca thought smiling.

Meanwhile at Stone Hill, Misteria and the Sorcerer were still going at it. Misteria was losing pretty badly. But she refused to give in to the Sorcerer. She had one last card to play.

"You're more powerful than I would've ever thought. But let's see how well you do against this," Misteria said. She flew up into the heart of the storm she created. She then began to merge with the storm.

Several moments later, a dragonhead formed in the clouds.

"You might have been able to beat me as a dragon. But let's see if you can beat Mother Nature herself," Misteria said. She then blew a very icy wind down on the Sorcerer, encasing him in ice. She continued to blow, making the ice thicker and thicker. She stopped when the Sorcerer was encased in 1' thick ice.

The ice appeared to do the trick at first. But it slowly began to thaw several minutes later. The Sorcerer had begun to thaw himself out the moment he was fully encased in ice. It took a little while, but the Sorcerer was able to completely thaw himself out. Just that one attack left him panting hard. The ice was so cold that it had actually started taking his breath away.

"It seems that I have underestimated you. I won't make that mistake again. I've underestimated my opponents too many times already. You may be a storm now, but I will still defeat you," the Sorcerer said.

"But now you're starting to wear down. Do you really think that you can win? Thanks to the merge with my storm, I am completely re-energized," Misteria said. She then lashed out with a fierce electrical storm.

The lightning struck so fast that the Sorcerer could only weave out of each bolt's path. But he soon got an idea. He surrounded himself in an electrical shield. As the lightning struck the shield, the energy from the lightning flowed into him, restoring his energy. After about seven strikes, his energy was completely restored.

"It seems like your lightning was a double-edged sword Misteria. I was able to use it to restore my energy as well. Now we're on an even playing field again," the Sorcerer said.

"That was a sneaky move Sorcerer," Misteria said.

"It's not like you can talk," the Sorcerer said.

"No matter though. I will win this battle," Misteria said.

The Sorcerer felt change in the air. He felt stable air quickly moving in their direction. "You're about to get a lesson in nature Misteria," he said smirking.

"Why's that?" Misteria asked.

"You'll find out right now," the Sorcerer responded.

The storm had soon begun to break up.

"What's this? I'm not causing this storm to break up," Misteria said puzzled. She was soon unmerged from her storm and quickly spread her wings to stop her descent. "What's happening to my storm?" she asked angrily.

"Apparently, Mother Nature no longer wants you to interrupt her. A storm needs unstable air to keep itself alive. You were providing the unstable air. But highly stable air is what causes a storm to break apart. Someone such as you should've known that," the Sorcerer said. "Now the tables have turned Misteria. Since the storm has broken up, your power doesn't even match up to mine anymore," he added before encasing Misteria in a shadow cage.

Misteria used her electrical powers in attempt to escape. But the shadow bars simply absorbed the attack. She was now trapped.

"That will hold you for a while. The only way you'll get out of there is if I decide to let you out. If you submit to me, I'll let you out right now. But I must say that I'm pretty impressed with your abilities, and I take back what I said earlier about working with you. With my help, your powers can become even stronger. Do we have a deal?" the Sorcerer said.

"Yes Sorcerer. You have a deal. I would do anything to be able to put Red in his place and kill his precious little son," Misteria said.

"Well let's make our leave then," the Sorcerer said before making the cage disappear.

"I have someone for you to meet," Misteria said before leading the Sorcerer to the shore.

Ineptune surfaced. "Who is he?" she asked upon seeing the Sorcerer.

"This is the Sorcerer," Misteria asked.

"I have convinced your friend here to join me. I can sense the power inside of you. I can help you develop it to the fullest," the Sorcerer said.

"I'll joing you Sorcerer. I've wanted revenge against that little dragon ever since he defeated me," Ineptune said.

"So have I my dear mermaid," the Sorcerer said.

"That dragon defeated you too?" Ineptune asked.

"Yes he has. Like you, I seriously underestimated him. But at the time, he had strong magic. Now, he has almost none becuse he deliberately let it die, which is good for us of course," the Sorcerer said. "Let's head back to my world now," he added.

"Is there any water there?" Ineptune said.

"My lair has more than enough water to support you," the Sorcerer responded.

"Okay then," Ineptune said.

The Sorcerer transported himself as well as Ineptune and Misteria to his world. Upon arriving in the lair, Ineptune was deposited into the water. She quickly surfaced.

"This will do just fine," Ineptune said.

"So what's our next couse of action?" Misteria asked.

"The next course of action will be some training. I promised that I would help the two fo you bring your powers to their fullest, and I intend to uphold that promise," the Sorcerer responded.

"I will take as long as necessary to have a good chance of defeating Red," Misteria said.

"So will I," Ineptune added.

"It looks like we'll get along just fine now," the Sorcerer said.

Another chapter completed. Now our heroes have triple trouble. With the alliance between the Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune, things have gotten a lot more complicated. Preview for Chapter 6: The Dead Ruins: Spyro, Red, Bianca, Hunter and Sparx pay Sheila the kangaroo a surprise visit. But something is terribly amiss. A strange portal appears in the Sunrise Spring home world after night has settled in. Spyro enters the world out of curiosity. But this is not a world to enter, as he soon finds out. Can he make it out before the sun rises? Stay tuned to find out.


	6. The Dead Ruins

Recap: Spyro, Sparx, Red, Hunter and Bianca were in Lofty Castle, hoping to have some peace from Misteria for a while. The peace did last up to a certain point. But trouble had eventually found Spyro, Hunter, Bianca, Baruti, Useni and Mudada. The devil-looking enemies had confronted them and were quick to seriously hurt Spyro. His friends could do nothing because the devils threatened to kill him if they did. Fortunately, Red sensed Spyro's plight and was quickly on the scene. One of the devils attempted to kidnap Spyro, but Red was all over it. In Stone Hill meanwhile, a battle of supremacy between the Sorcerer and Misteria took place. The Sorcerer came out the winner. Now he, Misteria and Ineptune have joined forces in their quest to eliminate Spyro and Red.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
_Italic words _is Red mental talk  
' is thoughts

Chapter 6: The Dead Ruins

A week has passed since the nearly fatal incident at Lofty Castle. If not for Red, things would've been very tragic. The devils were still around and had confronted Spyro and friends. They quickly put Spyro out of commission, leaving him just barely alive. Because the devils had Spyro surrounded and their weapons pointed at him, there was nothing his friends could do. It seemed hopeless until some of the devils were mysteriously sent flying. The culprit turned out to be Red using the Banish spell. Unnerved by the show of force, one of the devils made off with Spyro.

Red went after the kidnapping devil, only to be stopped by another devil. That devil didn't get too far at all before Red permanently took care of it. Red soon caught up to the devil holding Spyro, countering the electricity that it shot at him. Then the devil made the fatal mistake of stabbing Spyro in front of Red. Red went into a rage. His anger turned the sunny sky ominous.

Lightning struck from the sky, not only disarming the devil of both its weapon and Spyro, but also destroying it. Having done its job, the sky quickly cleared. Red caught his gravely injured son and headed back to the others to see that the other devils had been taken care of. Then Red healed Spyro. Spyro, Red and friends were currently in the largest of the castles with Mudada.

"I think I should spend some time with my father and brother. Seeing all the family reunions made me realize how much I miss them," Hunter said.

"I'll take you home then. I didn't think that I would be thanking the Sorcerer for something. If not for him, then I wouldn't know where your home is," Red said. He took Hunter's hand and teleported, arriving at the exact place. Then he returned to Lofty Castle

"Let's head to Sheila's Alp. It's been a while since Spyro, Sparx and I have last seen her, and I'm sure that Sheila would love to meet you Red," Bianca said.

"I would love to see her again," Spyro said.

"Me too," Sparx agreed.

"I'm looking forward to meeting her. Let's go," Red said.

Because Bianca knew exactly where Sheila's Alp was located, she provided the teleportation. Sheila was outside at the time when she saw them arrive. She was absolutely thrilled to see Spyro, Sparx and Bianca because it had been at least 2 years since they've last come in contact with each other. Over the following week, Spyro had told Sheila all that had happened since they last saw each other. As of the present, it was early afternoon.

"It appears that you have been busy Spyro," Sheila said. She and Spyro were curretnly in the bedroom of Billy's house.

"Yeah, every time things seem to quiet down, something new happens," Spyro said.

"But the things that happened between you and your father are something. He had been evil for a while but then changed for the better," Sheila said.

"Yeah, and I owe him my life," Spyro said.

"From what you told me, he feels the same way towards you. After all, it was you who helped him get back on the right track," Sheila said.

"Indeed it was," a voice said from the doorway.

Sheila and Spyro looked to see Red standing in the doorway with a large tray of food.

"May I come in?" Red asked.

"Sure," Sheila responded.

Red came into the room. "I thought that you two might be pretty hungry since you skipped breakfast," he said before putting the tray on the nightstand.

Right on cue, Spyro's stomach growled loudly. Red chuckled and Sheila giggled at the blush of embarrassment on Spyro's face. Not to be left out though, Spyro laughed when Sheila's stomach suddenly growled.

"I guess we're both pretty hungry," Sheila said.

"Yeah, let's eat," Spyro said. "Are you going to join us dad?" he added.

"No Spyro. I had lunch already. Thank you for the offer though," Red responded before returning to the living room.

Spyro and Sheila began eating the food from the tray. There was enough food to satisfy them both. Neither had realized just how hungry they were.

"I didn't think that I was that hungry," Spyro said.

"I know. Me neither," Sheila agreed. "Let's join Red in the living room," she added.

Spyro nodded and he and Sheila headed off to the living room. They noticed that Bianca had left.

"Hey, where's Bianca?" Spyro asked.

"Oh, she went home. She said that she wanted to spend time with her cousins," Sparx responded.

"So Spyro, do you want to go flying or something?" Red offered.

"Flying would be great," Spyro responded before heading out the door.

Red was close behind. After stepping outside, Red picked Spyro up. Then he spread his wings and was airborne with a powerful flap. He couldn't help but wonder what the muffled sound he heard was. 'I wonder what made that sound. I just barely heard it. Maybe I should've investigated. Someone may have needed help,' he thought.

Sheila watched until Red was no longer in sight before heading back in. She stopped upon hearing a muffled cry for help. She looked at the rocky wall to see a goat trapped in it. Pete was standing not too far away.

"What happened?" Sheila asked.

"I don't know. I just happened to come by when I heard Billy. I looked at the wall and was surprised to see half of him sticking out of it," Pete responded.

"Well, let's get him out. You grab one foot, and I'll take the other," Sheila said sighing.

Pete nodded, and they tried to pull Billy out. Billy was stuck in the wall pretty good this time because they couldn't pull him out. It was as if he was jammed in the wall.

"He's in there farther than I thought. We usually had no problem pulling him out," Sheila said ten minutes later.

"Allow me to assist you," a familiar deep voice said.

Sheila and Pete looked up to see Red descending. Red soon landed and put Spyro down.

"Back so soon?" Sheila asked.

"We really didn't go too far actually. Dad had a pretty troubled look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that he had heard something the moment we came outside. We both wanted to know what it was so we came back," Spyro responded. "Is that Billy? If it is, then how did he get half his body stuck in the wall?" he added.

"Yes, that is Billy in the wall. I have a hunch to why he's in that position. But we have to get him out of there to find out if I'm right," Sheila responded.

"I'll get him out," Red said. He walked over to the wall and wrapped his arm around Billy's middle. Then being as gentle as possible, he started to pull Billy out.

Soon, Billy was completely out of the wall. Red then placed him down. Billy shook his head several time to clear it. He opened his eyes to see Spyro, Sheila, Red and Pete looking at him.

"Did you tease the moose again?" Sheila asked.

"Yes I did. I'm sorry Sheila but I can't help it. Taunting the moose is one of my favorite things ta do," Billy responded.

"Well, you're lucky that Red heard ya. Otherwise ya would've been stuck in there for a lot longer. You were so far in the wall that we couldn't pull ya out," Sheila said.

"Thanks Red," Billy said.

"You're welcome. Next time, find something else to do besides taunt the moose. I'm sure that there's got to be something more interesting than that," Red said. "Well if nothing else is wrong, then Spyro and I have some flying to get back to," he added while picking Spyro up.

Spyro giggled as Red picked him up. "See you guys later," Spyro said before Red took to the air.

Sheila, Billy and Pete went back inside the house.

"What was that noise a few moments ago?" Sparx asked.

"That was Billy in the wall," Pete responded.

"Let me guess. He teased the moose again right?" Sparx said.

"Exactly mate," Sheila said.

Meanwhile, Red and Spyro were flying through the mountain peaks. The reason why they got there so quickly was due to Red flying pretty fast. Of course, Red slowed down upon reaching the mountain peaks. Spyro had actually liked his father's speed increase. To him, it was like supercharging, but much faster and that they were going through the sky. Now, he was almost speechless as he looked at the icy peaks.

"Whoa. This is amazing," Spyro said in awe.

"It is isn't it? I always loved flying through the mountains," Red said.

They soared through the mountains for an hour before Red landed on the peak of the tallest one and put Spyro down. Spyro just looked on at the breath-taking scene in speechless awe. He felt like he was at the highest point in the world. He moved just a little closer to the edge and looked over the side at the spectacular view. Red just smiled upon seeing the awed expression on Spyro's face.

But the moment was short-lived however. Spyro and Red soon heard an ominous crack. Then they felt the mountain shake a little bit. Even thought Spyro moved only a little, it was enough to begin shifting the terribly unstable snow pack. Before either of them could react, the snow began sliding down the mountain. The occurring avalanche buried Spyro instantly, sending him straight to the bottom.

"Spyro!" Red cried. He had managed to fly out before the snow could bury him as well and saw Spyro sink into the sliding snow. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do anything to help Spyro until the avalanche came to rest.

About twenty minutes later, the avalanche finally came to a stop. Red relied on his senses as he flew over the avalanche area. He sensed a weakening aura about halfway between the avalanche's start and finish areas. He flew down lower and immediately started breathing down fire, knowing that Spyro wouldn't survive much longer under all that snow. He had burned through two feet of snow in only a minute due to his enhanced powers.

He knew that being able to burn through that large amount of snow in such a short time was a very good thing because he sensed that Spyro was buried deep under the snow, ten feet to be exact. Five minutes later, he had uncovered an unconscious Spyro. He reached down and pulled Spyro out. He was very relieved to see Spyro regain consciousness. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I-I-I-I-I-I f-f-f-f-f-feel r-r-r-r-r-r-really c-c-c-co-co-co-cold. O-o-o-o-o-otherwise I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine," Spyro responded, shivering uncontrollably.

"I'll fix that," Red said. He closed his eyes in concentration.

An orange aura had soon engulfed Red and Spyro. Spyro could feel the warmness of the aura. Ten minutes later, he had stopped shivering completely. The aura lasted for several more minutes before landing completely.

"Is that better?" Red asked.

"That's much better. Thanks," Spyro responded. "How could that avalanche had started though? I only moved a little bit," he added.

"The snow must have been pretty unstable at the peak. On a mountain, the more unstable the snow, the less effort it takes to set the snow off. I have to guess that your movement, as slight as it was, was enough to cause the avalanche," Red suggested.

"That does make sense," Spyro said. "Maybe we should continue on."

"All right," Red said before flying off.

They soared through the mountains for another hour before heading back to Billy's house. They arrived several hours later. But the mood wasn't exactly happy. Red landed and saw Sheila sadly staring at a picture. Red put Spyro down before they both went to see why Sheila was so sad.

"What's wrong Sheila?" Spyro asked.

"Huh?" Sheila asked upon hearing the question. She looked and saw Spyro and Red in front of her. "Oh, just thinking," she responded.

"Who are the young and older kangaroos in the picture?" Red asked.

"This is a picture of my mother with my grandparents. My grandparents suddenly went missing and haven't returned to this day," Sheila responded.

"Do you know how they went missing?" Spyro asked.

"My mother was with them that day. When I asked her about my grandparents, she told me that she was lucky to have gotten out with her life," Sheila responded.

"Gotten out of where?" Red asked. 'This could be very bad,' he secretly added.

"My mother always tried to evade the subject. But she told me that she and my grandparents had wandered into a place known as the Dead Ruins. She said that they had encountered something very bad. They told her to get out while she still could. She was stubborn about leaving them, but they convinced her to leave.

As I told you, she was lucky to make it out. After making it out, she hoped that they would make it home as well. But they never came back. I really don't know how long it has been since then but my mother never could forget that day," Sheila responded. She looked into Red's eyes and knew that he must know something about that place.

Spyro also came to that conclusion. "Do you know anything about that place dad?" he asked.

"Yes, I have heard many stories about that place. Not only that, but I had also unintentionally wandered into it several times. I was lucky to escape with my life all those times," Red responded.

Spyro and Sheila gasped upon hearing that.

"You mean that my grandparents may have died in that place?" Sheila asked.

"I'm afraid so Sheila. Let's just say that the Dead Ruins got its name for more than one reason," Red responded.

Spyro could tell that Red was trying to evade the subject as well. 'That place must be pretty bad if dad really doesn't want to talk about it,' he thought. "That must be one bad place," he said.

"It's the worst place that you could ever be in. The worse news is that you never know where it will appear," Red said.

"It's not in one area?" Sheila asked.

"I'm afraid not. However, the good news is that it doesn't appear often. It only appears when the moon and stars aren't visible on a clear night, which is rare," Red responded.

"So it seems that we'll have to keep an eye on the sky at night," Spyro said.

"That's what I would advise," Red said.

"Well I don't think we'll have to worry about that here in my Alp since it's a small world inside a bigger world," Sheila said.

"That has puzzled me to this day. The Dead Ruins only appears in home worlds, not the lesser ones," Red said.

/Something feels terribly off/

_I know Cosma. I feel it too_

/You don't think that the portal to the Dead Ruins will appear soon do you/

_I really hope not_

/I know what you mean. I too had wandered into that dreary land and was lucky to get out. The fate of all those who could never return to the world of the living is omething that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy/

_I know_

About an hour later, Spyro and Sparx decided to pay Sgt. Byrd a visit. They went through the exit portal and arrived in Sunrise Spring. They headed over to the balloon. They found Snappy the seal standing in front of it.

"Hiya Spyro," Snappy said.

"Hi Snappy," Spyro said.

"Go ahead and jump on," Snappy said.

Spyro and Sparx got into the balloon and were off to Midday Gardens. About ten minutes later, the balloon landed. Spyro and Sparx got out and made their way to Sgt. Byrd's Base. They went through the portal and saw Sgt. Byrd upon arriving.

"Good day Spyro," Sgt. Byrd said.

"Hello sir," Spyro said.

"How have things been going?" Sparx asked.

"It's been pretty normal around here," Sgt. Byrd responded. "The Professor told me about your incident with the Sorcerer. He also told me that Red had changed. How is Red doing by the way?" he added.

"My father's doing just fine," Spyro responded, earning a pretty surprised reaction out of Sgt. Byrd.

"He's your pop?" Sgt. Byrd asked.

"Yep. Believe me, I was just as shocked as you were when I found out," Spyro responded.

"So where is he now?" another voice asked.

Spyro and friends looked and saw Cpl. Gabrielle come up.

"He's with Sheila," Sparx responded.

"So what has happened with you since you defeated the Sorcerer?" Sgt. Byrd asked.

Spyro told Sgt. Byrd and Cpl. Gabrielle what has been happening. Sgt. Byrd and Cpl. Gabrielle were very disturbed.

"Trouble knows who to follow huh?" Sgt. Byrd asked.

"Yeah and I wish that it would just leave me alone," Spyro responded. "So how are the privates doing?" he asked.

"Oh they're just fine. They're no longer privates though. I've promoted them. They're lieutenants now," Sgt. Byrd responded.

Then the four friends went inside the base to spend time with the lieutenants. Lieutenants Claire and Eloise were the first to spot them. They flew over and hovered in front of them.

"Spyro, Sparx, it's always a pleasure to see you," Lt. Claire said.

"What brings you here?" Lt. Eloise asked.

"We just wanted to visit," Spyro responded.

"Spyro look out!" Sparx suddenly shouted.

"What?" Spyro asked before turning around in time to dodge a large flower pot. "Who threw that?" he added.

"I'l take care of it," Sgt. Byrd responded. He took careful aim and fired.

Spyro watched the missile hit a Rhynoc. The impact caused the Rhynoc to flip a couple of times before disappearing.

"Man, the Rhynocs are pretty persistent aren't they?" Sparx asked.

"They are. But they make good target practice I have to admit," Sgt. Byrd responded.

"And good fun," Spyro added. Let's take out the Rhynocs."

"Capital idea chap," Sgt. Byrd said.

The group of six headed off to clear out some Rhynocs. Sgt. Byrd was right. The Rhynocs made good target practice because they did whatever they could not to be hit. They were successful but for only so long as Spyro and friends had begun to hit them. Two hours later, they had cleared the base of Rhynocs.

"That was fun," Sparx said.

"They'll be back though," Cpl. Gabrielle said.

"And that means that the fun will never truly stop," Lt. Eloise said.

"Yeah, even though we use the Rhynocs for target practice, it's still fun," Lt. Claire added.

"Well, I think that Sparx and I should be heading back," Spyro said.

"All right Spyro. It was good seeing you," Sgt. Byrd said.

Spyro and Sparx said their goodbyes before heading to the exit portal. They came out at Midday Gardens and headed to the balloon. They got aboard and headed back to Sunrise Spring. Upon arriving, they headed back to Sheila's Alp.

"So how did things go?" Sheila asked.

"Very well. Sparx and I had fun taking out the Rhynocs," Spyro responded.

"Yeah, kicking Rhynoc butt is a pretty fun thing to do," Sheila said.

"So, where's Red?" Sparx asked.

"He wanted to explore for a little bit," Sheila responded.

"Let's head to Molten Crater for a while," Spyro said.

"All right Spyro," Sparx said before he and Spyro headed out of the Alp again.

They headed towards Molten Crater when a strange portal suddenly appeared in front of them. One look at it sent chills down their spines. The arches were a dull gray and infested with cracks. The portal had so many cracks in it that the strange thing was that it didn't just collapse on itself. Another strange thing was about the portal is that it didn't say where it led.

"Where do you think this portal leads?" Sparx asked.

"I don't know. It's strange that it's not labeled. I'm going in to find out where it leads," Spyro responded. If he'd taken time to look at the night sky, he would've noticed that the moon and stars weren't visible although the sky was clear.

"Well let me go with you," Sparx said.

"No Sparx. It will be better if one of us stays here," Spyro said.

"All right Spyro," Sparx said, watching Spyro enter the portal.

Spyro instantly regretted his decision the moment he arrived. Everything around him was dull and gray. The sky itself was light gray, the grass, plants and trees being a darker gray. Gathering up his wits, he went exploring through the practically dead place, not yet realizing that he was in the Dead Ruins. Things were ominously quiet for a little while.

Half an hour later, Spyro heard wailing all around him. He anxiously looked all around him. He saw at first what looked like regular people and looked all around him. But as the creatures got closer, Spyro could see that they were as dull and gray as everything else was. Just then, one of the gray dragons breathed gray fire at him. He quickly dodged to the right.

He turned around and saw a creature coming out of the ground. He breathed fire at it, appearing to destroy it. Then he watched in horror as the creature simply reformed itself. 'What are these things?' he wondered. He backed up to the edge of a gray pond. The odd-looking creatures were actually zombies, also known as living dead.

Then he felt something grab onto his leg. He looked back and saw a bony arm sticking out of the water. The arm began to drag him down. Spyro struggled to get out of the arm's grip, but the owner of the arm was much stronger than he expected. He tried breathing fire on the hand. The hand temporarily fell off, allowing him to get away from the pond.

But then the hand reattached itself to the arm. Another zombie then came from out of the dingy gray water. Spyro was fortunate to have temporarily stopped the zombie from pulling him into the water because once a creature is fully submerged in the water, the living creature becomes a living dead for all eternity.

"You will become a living dead like the rest of us," the zombies said in raspy voices.

"I prefer being alive period," Spyro said before fleeing.

It wasn't that easy at all because the zombies literally came at him from underground as well as from the air. But the only thing on Spyro's mind was getting away. Even after an hour, the zombies showed no signs of giving up. Spyro was running on pure adrenaline now as the zombies kept coming after him.

Meanwhile, Sparx was getting very worried. He hoped that Spyro was all right in there. He wanted to go in and see, but Spyro instructed him not to. Several hours later, he had yet to see Spyro come out. 'Spyro's taking a long time. I hope he's all right,' he thought.

Meanwhile, Red was in Agent 9's Lab. He was currently speaking with the Professor.

"As if we didn't have enough things to worry about. Now the Sorcerer is back," the Professor said.

"I know," Red said. He suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Agent 9 asked.

"Spyro's in danger. I must go," Red responded before heading towards the exit portal. He was back in Midnight Mountain several minutes later and used the rocket to return to Sunrise Spring. Upon arriving, he got out of the rocket and took to the sky.

Meanwhile, Sparx had gone through all of Sunrise Springs' lesser worlds. Not finding Red in any of them, he headed to the balloon, hoping to find Red in Midday Gardens. He was almost at the balloon when he suddenly made out a large figure heading his way. He hovered in place, as the figure got closer. He sighed in great relief upon being able to see who the figure was. "Red!" he shouted.

Red was heading back to Sheila's Alp when he heard Sparx. He saw Sparx approaching and held his hand out because he sensed that Sparx was pretty tired. Sparx gratefully landed in the offered palm. He was exhausted and began to catch his breath. After a little while, Sparx had fully caught his breath.

"What happened?" Red asked.

"Spyro and I were heading to Molten Crater to spend a little time when a strange portal appeared out of nowhere," Sparx began, flying out of Red's palm and hovering in front of Red.

"What did the portal look like?" Red asked. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' he secretly added.

"It was all gray and full of cracks. I'm surprised that it didn't cave in on itself. What was even weirder was that the portal didn't have where it led to on it," Sparx responded, neither hearing the gasp of horror that came from Red nor seeing Red quickly look at the sky.

'He's in the Dead Ruins,' Red thought in horror.

"Spyro was curious and decided to go through the portal. I wanted to go with him but he told me to remain out here. He hasn't come out yet," Sparx continued. "I don't know what's going on in there," he finished before feeling a gust of wind that nearly bowled him over. He looked up and saw Red heading off. He was able to catch up. "Whoa, what's the hurry? And do you have an idea why the moon and stars aren't visible on a clear night like this?" he asked.

"Spyro was right in telling you to stay behind," Red responded.

"What do you mean?" Sparx asked in confusion.

"That strange portal with no name on it leads to the Dead Ruins. After wandering into it several times myself, I started looking at the sky to see if there was anything unusual. What I noticed was that the Dead Ruins portal appears when the moon and stars weren't visible on a clear night. I've seen the portal only once after I made the discovery and made sure to steer clear of it," Red responded.

Sparx gasped upon hearing that simple response. He had heard many terrifying stories about the Dead Ruins. "We have to get him out of there," he said.

"Exactly. Lead the way," Red said.

Sparx led the way to the portal. Upon reaching it, they both flew through it. Sparx felt shudders going through him. Hearing about how the place looked didn't compare to actually seeing what it looked like.

"This place gives me the creeps," Sparx said.

"Look out!" Red shouted before grabbing Sparx and flying up. He let go, and he and Sparx saw a stream of gray fire pass underneath them.

"Thanks. That was a close one," Sparx said.

"It's not over yet," Red said.

Sparx looekd ahead to see a horde of gray flying creatures coming their way. He prepared to shoot at one of the small birds.

"Sparx no! You won't be able to destroy it," Red warned.

It was too late. Sparx shot at the bird. The bird appeared to break apart. But then it simply put itself back together and flew back up to its initial spot.

"How did it do that?" Sparx asked in horror.

"It did that because it's a zombie. I also found out the hard way that none of my attacks fazed them," Red responded.

"What's a zombie?" Sparx asked.

"A zombie is a living dead. And as they say, 'You can't kill something that's already dead,'" Red responded.

"What are we going to do then?" Sparx asked.

"We need to find Spyro and get out of here before dawn. If we can't get out before dawn, the portal will disappear, trapping us here," Red responded, holding out his hand. "We need to lose these zombies first though. One of my abilities is greater speed. It will be best for me to carry out. You're able to keep up with Spyro when he supercharges, but you won't be able to keep up with me because I can go much faster than that," he added.

"You may have escaped the last time. But you will become one of us," the zombies said.

"Not in this or any lifetime," Red retorted.

Sparx landed in Red's palm. Red then shot off like a bullet

'We're coming Spyro. I just hope you're all right,' Red thought.

The zombies had instantly given up when they saw how fast Red flew off. They knew that there was no possible way to keep up with him. Red slowed down a bit upon sensing that the zombies weren't pursuing him. But he still flew at a pretty fast clip.

_How are we as far as time_

/You've got four hours until sunrise/

_I hope we're in time. This place is pretty big_

/I just hope that Spyro is all right/

_So do I_

Meanwhile, Spyro had momentarily ditched the zombies. He took the time for some much-needed rest. He had been running for several hours straight. 'How I was able to run for that long is beyond me,' he thought. As much as he wanted to go to sleep, he knew he couldn't because there was no telling what would happen.

But his rest would be short-lived because a group of zombies was almost on top of him. He heard a whistling sound and looked up. He saw a large group of dragon zombies diving right towards him. He just barely got ouf of their path. The zombies crashed to the ground, breaking apart. But they quickly rearranged themselves. Spyro was off running by then.

Spyro soon stopped at a gray river. 'I might end up like them if I even touch the water. So how do it get across it?' he wondered. He looked around and saw giant lily pads. Between dodgingt he zombies while trying to stay on the lily pads, it took him an hour to get across. He then charged ahead, putting a little more distance between him and the flying zombies. He had several more close calls with the water, but luckily, he made it across those.

About two hours later, he slowed down to a stop. That's because he was at a cliff. He was just able to make out a large body of gray water at the bottom. The water was all he saw. There was no stretch of land. Before he could go the other way, the zombies landed. He was trapped. Meanwhile, Red and Sparx were back on Spyro's trail. They were back on Spyro's trail because Red had to stop Sparx from making a big mistake. Wanting to have a drink, Sparx flew towards a lake. But Red stopped him from doing so, telling him that the water was enchanted by a dark spell.

"Thanks for not letting me drink that water," Sparx said.

"I've seen what happened to those who did drink the water. Although drinking the water doesn't turn you into a zombie, as I told you, it puts you under an unbreakable spell. The spell was made to make those who drank the water submerge themselves in the water. Those who have gone completely under the water surfaced as zombies," Red said. He suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" Sparx asked.

"Spyro's trapped. I can sense that we're just about there," Red responded. 'Hang on Spyro. We're almost there,' he thought.

Back at the cliff, the zombies began to close in on Spyro. Spyro had involuntarily begun backtracking. Soon, he had backed up too much and fell over backwards, straight for the gray ocean below.

"Spyro!" Red and Sparx cried.

"Stay here Sparx," Red said.

Sparx nodded and flew out of Red's palm. Red dove after Spyro. The zombies were waiting to see a splash when a red blur sped past them. Spyro looked up upon hearing a whistling sound. He panicked, thinking that it was a zombie.

"Spyro I'm coming!" a familiar deep voice shouted.

'That's not a zombie,' Spyro thought with relief. Several seconds later, he saw Red closing the distance between them. He looked down to see the distance between hismelf and the ocean also closing. "Oooof," he said a few moments later upon his fall suddenly stopping. He looked down to find himself suspended in the air. He felt strong arms around him.

"Gotcha," Red said. He flew back up. Several minutes later, he got back up to where he left Sparx. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I am now," Spyro responded. "But what are those things?" he added.

"Those are zombies," Red responded.

"And here they come," Sparx said.

Red quickly used his right wing to shield Spyro from an oncoming stream of fire. The gray fire bounced back to the zombie that fired it, knocking it out of the sky. Red managed to stay aloft on one wing, although it wasn't easy. Upon not feeling the fire on his right wing, he started flapping it again. He, Spyro and Sparx saw the dragon zombie come from all sides.

The dragon zombies soon had them surrounded. You will be one of us," they said.

"Oh shut up," Red retorted. He was pretty annoyed at this point.

"What do we do?" Spyro asked.

"We're going to ditch them," Red responded. He unwrapped one arm from around Spyro and held Sparx. Then he sped off. He left the zombies in the dust in practically no time.

/You must hurry. You have less than an hour to make it out/

Red sped up even more. He went at full speed but he wasn't sure if he would make it out in time. But he was determined. 'I'm not about to let us be trapped in this wretched place,' he thought resolvedly. He didn't have to worry about the zombies because he knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up with him less catch him. About fifty minutes later, he could see a whirlwind in the distance. we're almost out of here," he said.

"How do you know?" Spyro asked.

"Look ahead. That gray whirlwind is the exit," Red responded.

Spyro looked ahead and saw a gray whirlwind. A few minutes later, Red flew into the whirlwind. After coming out of the portal, Red landed before letting go of Sparx and putting Spyro down. The trio watched as the portal disappeared a few minutes later.

"Whoa, that was too close for comfort," Sparx said.

"Yes it was," Red agreed.

"What was that place anyway?" Spyro asked.

"That was the Dead Ruins Spyro," Red responded. _Thanks for keeping track of time Cosma_

/Don't mention it. I'm just glad that all of you are all right/

"Well at least now we're wiser eh Spyro?" Sparx asked.

"Yeah," Spyro said yawning.

The adrenaline rush had worn off, leaving him utterly exhausted. He fell asleep right where he was. Red smiled and picked him up.

"Let's head back to Sheila's Alp. We can all use a good sleep," Red said.

Sparx nodded before landing on Spyro's head and falling asleep himself. He was also pretty tired from staying up all night. Upon arriving in Sheila's Alp, Red carried Spyro and Sparx to Billy's house. Sheila was just standing outside the house when she saw them. She was confused upon seeing Spyro and Sparx fast asleep. Red saw the question in her eyes.

"I'll explain later. Right now, Spyro, Sparx and I need a good rest," he said before entering the house.

"Well you can sleep in the bedroom if you want. I'm sure that Billy wouldn't mind too much," Sheila said.

Red nodded and headed straight for the bedroom. Upon arriving, he placed Spyro in the bed and put the covers over him. He found an extra pillow and blanket. He got settled next to the bed before falling asleep himself, his adrenaline rush also having worn off.

Billy came into the bedroom and saw three sleeping figures. He heard Sheila coming up behind him. "Why are they asleep now?" he quietly asked.

"We'll have to wait until they wake up to find out. They're pretty exhausted," Sheila quietly responded before leaving.

Billy closed the door before leaving as well.

And that's the end of this chapter. Real nail biter huh? Red made it out with Spyro and Sparx with not much time to spare. Moving on, preview for Chapter 7: Return to the Shadow Realm: The Sorcerer, makes a move. Spyro is sent to the Shadow Realm. Even worse, Spyro will have no chance against the monsters that the Sorcerer sends after him. Red finds out a helpful secret and goes to the Shadow Realm. What is this secret and can he get Spyro out of the Shadow Realm safely? Stay tuned for the answer.

Well, I'm out of work right now. I learned this past Thursday that I had been let go. But I was only a Temporary Employee, which meant that how long I would work was unknown. But for now, it gives me time to update faster. I'll do my best to have the next chapter up as soon as I can.


	7. Return to the Shadow Realm

Recap: After the nearly fatal incident in Lofty Castle, Spyro, Red, Sparx, Hunter and Bianca spent some time in Sheila's Alp. Wanting to spend some time with their own families, Hunter and Bianca returned to their homes. A father/son outing almost turned tragic when Spyro set off and was buried underneath an avalanche but Red was able to burn through the deep snow and pull Spyro out. But what happened during the night would prove to be the worst experience of Spyro's life. Spyro had wandered into an unlabeled portal that had appeared out of nowhere, which he didn't know was the portal to the most feared place in the world: The Dead Ruins. It was then a race against time to get out because the portal would disappear at dawn, trapping any unsuspecting person or creature who may have wandered into the Dead Ruins. Fortunately, Red got to him and brought him out with very little time to spare.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
_Italic words _is Red mental talk  
' is thoughts

Chapter 7: Return to the Shadow Realm

It was now early evening. Spyro, Sparx and Red had slept the entire day and were still asleep. But it was to be expected after being up all day and night. Last night had started off very peaceful. But it quickly turned into the worst night that Spyro had ever experienced. He and Sparx were on their way to spend a little time at Molten Crater when a gray-cracked portal with no name appeared in their path.

Being curious as to why the portal didn't say where it led, Spyro decided to have a look. He arrived in a literal dead place. Except for him, everything was dull and gray. At the time, he didn't realize that he was in the Dead Ruins. It didn't take long for trouble to find him. This trouble was in the form of living dead a.k.a. zombies. He seemingly disintigrated one, but was horrified upon seeing it simply put itself back together. Another zombie attemtped to drag him into a pond, but he was able to make it let go. Then he spent almost the entire night trying to get away from the zombies. He was doing fine until they trapped him at a cliff.

The zombies approached him, wanting to force him over the edge and into the gray ocean below. That was because that all of the bodies of water were enchanted with a spell that would turn a living being into a living dead when the living being was fully submerged. They did force him over the edge. Luckily, he never fell into the ocean because Red caught him.

Then it was a race against the clock because the portal itself would disappear at dawn. Luckily, Red made it out with Spyro and Sparx with literally a few minutes to spare. Then Red returned to Sheila's Alp. Sheila and Billy were currently having dinner. Bobby and Pete joined them. All for of them wondered what could've happened to make Spyro, Sparx and Red so tired. Sheila and Billy had yet to hear the bedroom door open.

"I wonder what happened last night," Pete said.

"It must've been something very exciting for them to stay up all night," Bobby said.

"I have a feeling that it wasn't exciting in a good way," Billy said.

"You may be right," Sheila said.

A few hours later, Pete and Bobby went back to their houses. As for Sheila and Bobby, they would still have a comfortable place to sleep tonight even though the bedroom was occupied. Billy had two sofas in the living room. Draped across each sofa was a thick blanket. Sheila and Bobby got settled on the sofas and were soon asleep themselves.

Meanwhile in the Sorcerer's world, the Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune were plotting their next move. After Misteria's battle with the Sorcerer, she had agreed to work with the Sorcerer. In return, the Sorcerer helped her to further develop her powers and abilities. Over the past two weeks, she and Ineptune went through vigorous training, becoming much stronger than they initially were.

"So what's our next point of attack?" Misteria asked.

"I've been considering letting my pets have fun with Spyro," the Sorcerer responded.

Ineptune smirked. "You told me that Spyro's magic is very slim. So why not have the creatures that can only be defeated through the use of Chi energy, or the Cyclone, Shock and Banish spells. He'll be just about helpless against them," she said.

"That's a wonderfully sinister idea," the Sorcerer said.

"You said that you were able to drain Red of his powers. Why not give it another try because we know that Red will find a way into the Shadow Realm. Now that he has gotten more powerful, that could mean more power for us," Misteria said.

"An excellent idea. We would be unstoppable with that kind of power," the Sorcerer said.

Back in Sheila's Alp, Sheila, Billy, Spyro, Sparx and Red enjoyed a fairly peaceful night. The next morning, Red was the first to awaken. He got up and stretched.

'That was the best sleep I've had. I feel completely refreshed,' Red thought. He removed the blanket from Spyro. "It's time to wake up," he said.

Spyro opened his eyes. He looked up and saw Red looking down at him. "Hey dad," he said yawning.

"Hi Spyro," Red said. He then lightly tapped Sparx.

Sparx awakened before flying off Spyro's head. "I've never slept that good before," he said.

"I know what you mean. I was exhausted after having to dodge those zombies all night last night," Spyro said before jumping down from the bed. He thought that it was yesterday afternoon.

Then Red opened the door and he, Spyro and Sparx headed to the living room. They found Sheila and Billy up and about. Shiela turned around and smiled upon seeing Red, Spyro and Sparx.

"Glad to you you're finally awake," Sheila said.

"How long were we asleep?" Spyro asked.

"You were asleep for a full day. It's morning now," Sheila responded.

Spyro and Sparx's mouths dropped for a few moments. "What?" they asked in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Red asked. He was in as much disbelief as Spyro was Sparx were.

"Very serious," Sheila responded.

"I thought it was still the afternoon," Spyro said.

"Me too," Sparx added.

"Me three," Red added.

"Sheila and I were hoping that ya would've woken up by yesterday afternoon. But we figured that ya must've had quite a night to sleep for a full day," Billy said.

"We did indeed," Red said.

"A night that I hope to never go through again," Spyro said.

"Can you tell us about it?" Sheila asked.

"Can we eat first? I'm pretty hungry," Sparx said.

Right on cue, Spyro and Red's stomachs growled loudly. Sparx, Sheila and Billy laughed at the look of embarrassment on Spyro's face. They couldn't see that Red blushed as well due to him being red.

"All right. We'll eat. I'd imagine that you would be quite hungry after not eating anything for a full day," Sheila said.

Several minutes later, they all sat down and had a sizeable breakfast. Sheila and Billy didn't really have much of an appetite last night so they ate very little. But their appetites came in full swing this morning. About ten minutes later, they finished breakfast. Then Spyro and Red took turns explaining what happened two nights ago. It was early afternoon when they finished.

"Whoa. That was a very rough night," Sheila said.

"Even that's an understatement Sheila," Spyro said.

Then Spyro, Red and Sparx made their way to the exit portal. They soon arrived in Sunrise Spring.

"So, where do you want to go Spyro?" Red asked. He grew tense immediately after asking that question.

"What's wrong?" Sparx asked.

"The Sorcerer is nearby," Red responded.

"That I am," a sinister voice said.

"And he's not alone," a second sinister voice added.

Spyro, Red and Sparx whiped around to see both the Sorcerer and Misteria.

"What do you want this time?" Spyro asked dryly.

"What we've been wanting from the beginning: your extermination," the Sorcerer responded.

Suddenly, the air became thick with dark magic. Then the sky began to darken. A lavender lightning bolt struck right in front of Spyro. THe bolt missed him by only millimeters but the impact with the ground was enough to blow him off his feet. A purple and black cloud-like portal appeared behind him, and he went flying into it. Then the portal quickly closed up.

"Spyro!" Red and Sparx cried. They really didn't have time to react because it happened so fast.

Red turned back towards the Sorcerer. "Where is he?" he asked snarling.

"Why he's in the Shadow Realm of course. I suggest you hurry if you want to save him because he will be completely powerless against my creatures," the Sorcerer responded.

"How so?" Sparx asked.

"Since Spyro can't use Chi energy anymore and can no longer perform spells, he won't be able to even faze the creatures that the Sorcerer intends to send here," Misteria said smirking before she and the Sorcerer disappeared.

"Oh no," Sparx said in horror.

"Oh no is right. Spyro told me that except for the Chi moves; he still knows all the moves Sensei taught him. But that will be pointless unless he uses either Chi or the Banish spells first or just the Cyclone spell," Red said.

"What do we do though?" Sparx asked.

"First we need to find the other Elders. Let's head back to Dragon Dojo. I just hope they're there," Red responded before holding out his hand.

Sparx landed in Red's palm before Red teleported. They soon arrived at the Dragon Dojo. Tomas, Ragnar, Titan, Cho Lei and Magnus were there when Red suddenly appeared, Sparx then flying out of Red's palm. Astor was at the dojo but had returned to Stone Hill half an hour ago.

"What's the trouble?" Titan asked. He knew that something was wrong upon seeing the look on Red's face.

"We have very big trouble. The Sorcerer sent Spyro to the Shadow Realm. The worse new is that because Spyro forgot how to use both Chi and all the spells we've taught him, he won't be able to do anything to the monsters the Sorcerer will send after him," Red responded.

"That's not good. Not good at all," Ragnar said.

"We've got to do something. Spyro wil be overwhelmed," Cho Lei said.

"There really isn't much we can do. If we were to go into the Shadow Realm, the Sorcerer would be able to drain us of our power again," Tomas said.

"Tomas is right," Magnus said.

"I know. That's what really worries me," Titan said.

/The Shadow Realm won't have any effect on you/

_How can that be? The Sorcerer drained me of my powers just like the others_

/That's because you and I weren't linked back then. When I was still alive, I had been sent to the Shadow Realm quite a few times. All of the other fairies that have been sent there have felt drained of magic, but I soon realized that I was unique. The Shadow Realm didn't affect me at all. Don't ask me how because I still don't know/

_So that means that because we're linked now..._

/That's right. Your magic is now more than strong enough to withstand the dark magic of the Shadow Realm/

_Now I can go in and help Spyro_

/You sure can. But you have no time to waste. Spyro could be in big trouble right now. By the way, Tomas is calling you/

_Huh?_

/You mean you don't see that blue hand in front of your face/

Red came out of his mental conversation and realized that Tomas's hand was indeed in front of his face.

"I didn't think that you would snap out of it," Tomas said.

"You were talking to Cosma weren't you?" Ragnar asked.

"Yes I was," Red responded.

"What did she say?" Ragnar asked.

"She said that because she and I are linked now, the Shadow Realm won't have any affect on me. She said that out of all the fairies that have been to the Shadow Realm, she was the only one not affected," Red responded.

"That's very good news," Tomas said. He went to a small table that had a box on it. He opened the box to reveal a Shadowstone. "This was once yours. Now it's yours once again," he said before giving it to Red. "Good luck. Bring Spyro back safely."

"Don't worry. I will," Red said. He took the Shadowstone and put it around his neck. Wasting no more time, he stepped onto the dimension portal on the floor and focused his power into his Shadowstone. He was soon in the Shadow Realm. He then went outside. _Okay, where do I go from here_

/It would be very helpful if you can pinpoint Spyro's exact location/

_How do I do that?_

/Remember how you were able to locate Spyro when he was buried under the avalanche? It's sort of like that, but now over a much greater distance. Try to sense Spyro's aura. Once you've sensed it, you can easily track him/

Red did as Cosma told him. It didn't take long before he sensed Spyro's aura. He immediately took to the skies at full speed. Meanwhile, Spyro was in the Shadow Realm version of the Wilderness. He was also in serious trouble. A group of Shadow Knights had him surrounded. He tried to Tail Hammer one of them, but the knight wasn't fazed at all.

'Oh no, I have to use Chi or the Cyclone Spell against these monsters. Too bad I forgot how,' Spyro thought. He then jumped to the side as a lance came at him.

The knight had brought it down with such force that it caused a small crater in the platform. Had Spyro not gotten out of the way in time, he would've probably had his head split into. Then the knights came at him at once. He barely dodge the simultaneous attack. But the two knights unintentionally created an opening in the sinister circle. Spyro quickly took advantage by charging out before the circle closed back up.

Spyro used the whirlwinds to keep out of the Shadow Knight's reach. But the Shadow Knights weren't all that he would have to deal with. A red energy blast suddenly knocked him out of a whirlwind. He looked up and saw the alien-looking monster on the platform he was trying to reach. The alien monster sent another red blast down on him. Unfortunately, Spyro had forgotten how to use Wing Shield as well.

Because he forgot how to use Wing Shield, he had to really pay attention to where the blasts would come from. He dodged left and right. The alien monster didn't let up its attack on him. After two hours passed, Spyro was getting very tired. He knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge much longer. Suddenly, the attacks had stopped. Wondering why the attacks suddenly stopped, he looked up and saw a very relieving sight. The alien monster was not only down, but it also had Red in front of it. Red had used his Chi energy to stop the alien monster's merciless assault on Spyro. Then Red used Tail Hammer to finish it off because his enhanced powers greatly enhanced his Critical Strike ability.

"Are you all right Spyro?" Red asked.

"I am now. Boy am I glad to see you," Spyro responded.

"I'm just glad to see that you're all right," Red said.

Just then, more Shadow Knights and alien monsters appeared. Red flew down and picked up Spyro before flying up to and putting Spyro on a platform on the tallest tree.

"Stay here Spyro. I'll handle those monsters," Red said before flying back down to confront the monsters.

'I wish I could help. But I would only get in the way because I no longer know how to use Chi nor the Shock, Banish and Cyclone spells,' Spyro thought helplessly.

Meanwhile, a certain someone wasn't too happy at this moment. The Sorcerer, hoping to drain Red got a big surprise. This time, the Sorcerer was unsuccessful. He couldn't understand how Red was now immune to the Shadow Realm's effects. "How can he withstand the effects of the Shadow Realm? He shouldn't be able to," he said, watching the events unfold from a magical mirror.

"But you still have an opportunity to get that little pipsqueak. He's alone now," Misteria said.

"Ah, you're right. I have just the way, " the Sorcerer said before making an alien monster and a Shadow Knight appear on the platform Spyro was on.

Spyro was peacefully waiting for the battle to end when a Shadow Knight and alien monster suddenly appeared in front of him. He saw the armor and knew that he was in a big pickle right now. To make matters worse, he was close to the platform's edge. The Shadow Knight lunged at him with its lance. Spyro took a small jump backwards, almost losing his footing and falling off the platform in the process. Meanwhile, Red had finished off the last of the monsters. He immediately sensed Spyro in trouble and flew up to where he left Spyro to see Spyro between two enemies and a very long drop. The Shadow Knight prepared to lunge again.

"Oh no you don't!" Red shouted, using the Cyclone spell.

The magical cyclone headed straight from the Shadow Knight, easily defeating it. Luckily, Spyro didn't feel the cyclone's winds because Red focused the attack to only affect the Shadow Knight. But the alien monster quickly sent a blast down on Spyro. The blast not only knocked Spyro unconscious, but it also knocked him over the edge.

"No!" Red screamed, diving after Spyro. He soon caught Spyro several moments later and flew back up to where the alien monster was. "No more fooling around," he said lowly and angrily before unwrapping an arm from around Spyro and waving his hand.

The alien monster instantly vaporized. Spyro soon regained consciousness. Red could sense that Spyro was hurt. Spyro shifted a little and cried in pain.

"Hold still Spyro. I'll handle your injuries," Red said before healing Spyro. "Are you all right?" he asked afterwards.

"I am now thanks to you," Spyro responded. "Can we return to the Real World now?" he asked afterwards.

"We most certainly can," Red said. He looked down and saw that he was just about right over a dimension portal. He landed on it, closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the Real World.

The light silver surroundings of the Shadow Realm suddenly became bright and colorful.

"Hey Spyro, Red," a familiar voice said.

Spyro and Red looked ahead and saw a pink-clad fairy flying towards them. Red then put Spyro down.

"Hey Trina," Spyro said, as Trina stopped about several inches away from him.

"So how have you and the others been?" Red asked.

"We've been pretty good," Trina responded. "So what brings you here?" she added.

Spyro told Trina everything that happened. Trina was deeply disturbed.

"I hoped that the Sorcerer would be gone for good," Trina said.

"Everyone hoped that the Sorcerer wouldn't show his face again," Red said.

"It semes like things just can't stay normal," another familiar voice said.

The trio looked back to see Zoe hovering there.

"Hi Zoe," Red said.

"Hey Red. How have you been?" Zoe said.

"I've been doing fine for the most part," Red responded.

Then Trina told Zoe what Spyro told her.

"It looks like you had a very close call Spyro," Zoe said.

"I've been having a lot of close calls likely," Spyro said.

"Oh, how so?" a third familiar voice asked.

Aqua wondered where Zoe and Trina went to and flew off in the direction they took. She was surprised and happy upon seeing Spyro and Red and wanted to greet them as well. Amp and Freezia were close behind.

"Hey there Spyro," Freezia said.

"Hello Freezia," Spyro said.

"So how have you been?" Red asked.

Freezia could tell that Red still felt very guilty about what happened in the past. "Stop feeling guilty Red. Remember, I forgave you for trapping me inside your staff. Oh, and I've been doing fine by the way," she responded.

"I know that it's in the past but I can't help but feel guilty. I almost destroyed the Dragon World," Red said.

"So, tell us about the close calls you've had Spyro," Aqua said.

Spyro and Red took turns explaining what had happened over the past two weeks. The sky was already dark when they finished.

"Wow. That's too much excitement for just two weeks," Amp said.

"Tell us about it," Spyro and Red said simultaneously.

Then Spyro gave a yawn. "We should be heading back to the Dragon World," he said.

"One more thing," Trina said. She flew off. She returned a few moments later with different kinds of berries. She set the berries down in front of Spyro and Red. She made several trips back and forth to get berries for them. "Have something to eat before you go," she added.

"Thanks Trina," Spyro and Red said before sitting down to eat the berries.

Upon feeling the berries, Red picked up Spyro and prepared to teleport.

"Don't forget that you're welcome here anytime," Zoe said.

"We won't Zoe," Spyro said.

"Bye Spyro. Bye Red," Trina said.

"Bye everyone," Spyro and Red said before Red teleported.

"I still find it hard to believe that Red is Spyro's father," Amp said after Red and Spyro left.

"You said it," Aqua said.

"I'm just glad that things turned out for the best for both of them," Freezia said.

"We all are," Zoe said as the others nodded.

Meanwhile, Red had appeared back in Dragon Dojo. The Elders were greatly relieved to see Spyro and Red back safely. Spyro had fallen asleep and was snuggled in Red's arms.

"Red, thank goodness you and Spyro are back safe," Tomas said quietly.

"What happened?" Ragnar asked quietly.

"I think that it would be better to save that story for morning. Spyro is quite tired, and I can use a good rest myself," Red responded. He yawned soon after, proving his point. "Do you mind us crashing at your place for the night Titan?" he added.

"Do you even need to ask? You're more than welcome to spend the night at my house," Titan responded before leading Red towards his house.

Upon entering the house, Red put Spyro in the bed. He then got settled on the couch that was a few feet away. He was about to fall alseep when he saw Titan standing in front of him. He then sat up.

"The bed is big enough for you to get in as well," Titan said.

"Are you sure that you don't want to get into the bed? It is yours after all," Red said.

"I'm sure. Besides, I think that Spyro wants to sleep next to you," Titan said, motioning to Spyro.

Red slowly stood up and looked to see Spyro appearing to be reaching for something. He smiled before getting into the bed himself. He wrapped his arms around Spyro, pulling Spyro close to his chest. Upon feeling the familiar arms around him, Spyro snuggled closer. Still smiling, Red held Spyro a bit tighter.

"Goodnight dad," Spyro said yawning, eyes still closed.

"Goodnight Spyro," Red said before falling asleep himself.

Titan smiled at the pair before putting the sheets over them. After doing that, he headed towards the couch. He took the blanket that was draped across the top. He then got settled and fell asleep himself. A few seconds later, Sparx came in through the front window. He made his way over to where Spyro and Red were sleeping. He soon got settled and was fast asleep like the others.

And that's the end to this chapter. Things are really starting to heat up as this story nears its end. Only three chapters left. Preview for Chapter 8: Parasite Forest: After a year has passed, things seem to be normal again. But the normal feeling is shattered when the Sorcerer strikes again, sending Spyro to his world. Fortunately, Red rescues him. Not long afterwards, a group of very familiar and very fun-loving witch doctors decide to pay Spyro and friends a visit. But when the fun is over, Misteria strikes, sending Spyro to Parasite Forest. This time, Spyro has more than just the parasite vines to watch out for. Will Red make it to him in time? Stay tuned to find out.


	8. Parasite Forest

Recap: After the Dead Ruins incident, things were peaceful for a little while. Spyro, Red and Sparx ended up sleeping for a full day, being very surprised to find that out the next morning. After breakfast, Spyro, Red and Sparx headed out to Sunrise Spring. Soon after, the Sorcerer appeared and sent Spyro straight to the Shadow Realm. Spyro soon found out that he was completely powerless against the monsters that confronted him. But help was soon on the way as Red found out that his link with Cosma would prevent the dark magic of the Shadow Realm from draining him of his power. After getting his Shadowstone back, he went into the Shadow Realm. He took care of the monsters and brought Spyro out of the dreary realm.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
_Italic words_ is Red mental talk  
' is thoughts

Chapter 8: Parasite Forest

A year has passed since the Sorcerer's latest unsuccessful plot against Spyro and Red. During that year, there were no further attempts on Spyro's life from the Sorcerer, Misteria or Ineptune. Everyone, especially Spyro, enjoyed the year of peace. During that year's time, the buildings destroyed by the mega-tsunami had been rebuilt. About a few months after the rebuilding, Dragon Shores had gotten back to somewhat normal.

Spyro, Sparx, Red and Hunter were currently in the inn. Spyro and Sparx watched as Hunter and Red played a round of Dragon Draughts. Hunter had black checker pieces while Red had mini pieces that looked like his head. So far, it was a stalemate. Hunter was down to one king piece while Red had two. Neither one could get an edge over the other. The game has lasted for well over an hour so far.

"I've never seen a game of Dragon Draughts last this long," Spyro said.

"Me neither," Sparx agreed. "They're both playing very well," he added.

"They sure are," Spyro agreed.

The game went on for another half an hour before Red made the winning move that ended the game. He was able to corner Hunter's king so that Hunter had no choice but to be jumped. Hunter smiled and went over to congratulate Red.

"That was a great game. That has to be the longest round of Dragon Draughts I've ever played. You played very well," Hunter said.

"You played great yourself Hunter. You had me for a while," Red said.

"That was a great game," Spyro agreed.

Suddenly, they heard a loud thud just outside.

"What was that?" Sparx asked.

"I don't know. Let's find out," Artigan responded. He opened the door and gasped.

Lying a few yards from the door was an unconscious and seriously injured Tomas.

"What is it?" Red asked. He made his way over to the doorway and gasped in horror. "It's Tomas. Let's get him inside," he added. He walked over and used the Move spell to lift Tomas up. He then placed Tomas over his shoulders before heading back in. He walked in sideways, making sure not to injure Tomas more.

Spyro, Sparx and Hunter gasped upon seeing Tomas's condition. Red headed upstairs with Spyro and the others close behind. Artigan opened the door to his room and went in with Red and the others right behind him. Red placed Tomas on the bed. Then Red healed Tomas. Tomas regained consciousness several seconds later. Once his vision cleared, he saw several worried faces looking at him.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I'm fine now. Thank you Red. That healing ability of yours comes in handy," Tomas responded.

"No problem Tomas," Red said.

"What happened?" Spyro asked.

"The Sorcerer happened. He attacked the dojo. The other Elders told me to get help. The Sorcerer attacked me to keep me from leaving, but I was able to get out. But I was seriously injured in the process. I really don't know how I was able to fly here," Tomas responded.

"We've got to help the other Elders," Sparx said.

"Let's go Tomas. The rest of you stay here," Red said.

Spyro and the others nodded before Red and Tomas teleported to the dojo. There was no sign of the Sorcerer but the dojo was in ruins. Tomas and Red could sense weakening auras under the massive pile of debris.

"We've got to hurry. They won't last much longer under all that," Red said.

"Let's use the Move spell to remove the debris," Tomas said.

"Good idea," Red said.

Tomas performed the spell first to remove some of the debris. Red then used the spell several seconds after. By repeating this synchronized motion, the two were able to quickly remove enough debris to completely uncover the other Elders. Then Red healed the other Elders. They regained consciousness soon afterwards and saw Red and Tomas in front of them.

"Thank goodness you found help in time Tomas. I thought it was the end for me," Astor said.

"If not for Red, I probably would've been a goner myself," Tomas said.

"Are you guys all right?" Red asked.

"Yes. We're all fine thanks to you," Cho Lei responded.

"Oh no!" Titan suddenly said.

"What is it?" Red asked.

"The Sorcerer headed for the inn. He said that he was hoping that Tomas would come here with only you," Titan responded.

"I've got to go then," Red said before teleporting back to the inn. Upon arriving, he saw Sparx, Hunter and Artigan regaining consciousness. "What happened and where's Spyro?" he asked.

"The Sorcerer suddenly appeared. He attacked us with electric balls, knocking us out," Hunter responded. "He must've taken Spyro while we were out," he added.

"He won't have Spyro much longer. I'll see to that," Red said before disappearing again. He reappeared in the Sorcerer's world.

The Sorcerer's monsters immediately went on the attack. Two Shadow Knights lunged at Red from different directions. Red flew up at the last moment, and the knights crashed into each other. Red quickly erected force field around himself, which prevented the alien monsters' attacks from hitting him.

He quickly made his way to the Sorcerer's lair and burst through the doors. "Where's Spyro?" he asked lowly.

"Why he's right in there," the Sorcerer responded, pointing to a black machine.

Red looked inside the machine and saw an unconscious Spyro. "Spyro!" he should, rushing over to the machine. He just about reached the machine when it suddenly disappeared.

"You didn't think that I would make it that easy for you did you?" the Sorcerer asked.

"What did you do with him?" Red asked snarling.

"Your precious little son and the machine are under the water," the Sorcerer said before the water became acidic. "Or as I should say, under the acid. The only thing keeping the little brat alive right now is that machine because it's acid proof," he added before Ineptune surfaced.

Red growled at the Sorcerer's last statement. 'You'll pay for calling my son a brat,' he thought.

"I'd like to see how you'll even get down there now. It's too bad that you're not immune to acid like I am," Ineptune said.

/She doesn't know you very well does she/

_No she doesn't_ "I don't need to be immune to acid. I already have a way to shield myself from it," he added smirking.

"What do you mean by that?" Misteria asked.

Red simply erected a force field around himself.

"What is this?" Misteria asked, clearly taken back.

Red ran to the edge and dove into the acid. He quickly surfaced and face Misteria. "I believe that this answers your question," he responded, never losing the smirk.

"It can't be. How can you be powerful enough to withstand acid?" Ineptune said in shock.

"That's what we'd like to know," Misteria and the Sorcerer said.

"Let's just say that I now have powers that even you couldn't comprehend," Red said.

/You must get to Spyro. I can sense the machine slowly draining his life away/

_I won't allow that to happen _Then he dove under the acid and swam towards the machine.

Ineptune blocked his path. "It won't be that easy," she said.

"It will be easier than you think," Red said. He then used the Move spell to send Ineptune careening into a wall.

The force of impact knocked her out. Then Red swam down towards the machine.

_How will I get Spyro out? The acid will likely pour into the machine once I breach it, instantly killing him_

/Remember when I helped you through that freak tornado/

_Yes I do. You expanded the shield you put around me so it could cover Spyro as well_

/Once you touch the machine, the force field will expand around it. The outside of the machine is acid proof, but as you alluded to, the inside probably isn't. Once you've taken Spyro out, you can shrink the force field to where it will engulf only you and him/

Red then touched the machine. Upon touching the machine, the force field expanded around it. Then Red punched through the glass. He reached in and pulled Spyro out. The force field then shrank to encircle just the two of them. Now that the machine had a breach, the acid started eating away at it. But because acid is liquid, the machine also began to short circuit.

"That's my cue to get out of here," Red said before flapping his wings, not wanting to get caught in the blast even though the force field would protect him and Spyro. He shot out of the water just as the machine exploded, sending acid shooting into the air. He moved out of the upcoming acid's path and watched as it ate a hole in the roof. He then looked down for a moment and smirked upon seeing the Sorcerer and Misteria scrambling to get out of the acid that rained down. Still under the protection of his force field, he then flew through the acid and out through the hole in the roof.

After flying out of the acid, the force field disappeared. But soon, a yellow aura surrounded Red and Spyro. Spyro felt his energy being restored. About ten minutes later, Spyro's energy was completely restored. Then the aura died down. He regained consciousness to find blue sky all around him. He smiled and looked up at his father.

"Hey dad," he said smiling.

"Hey Spyro," Red said, smiling as well.

"What happened?" Spyro asked.

"I'll explain once we're back at the inn," Red responded before teleporting. He reappeared hovering above the inn. He landed and placed Spyro down before they both went inside.

"Spyro! Thank goodness you're all right," Sparx said.

"No, thank my father," Spyro said.

"What happened?" Hunter asked.

Red then explained everything that happened. Meanwhile back at the Sorcerer's lair, the explosion of acid had finally gotten settled again. Ineptune surfaced from the acidic water. By some stroke of luck, Red had knocked her far enough to where she wouldn't be caught in the huge upsurge of acid. The Sorcerer then changed the water back to normal.

"I didn't expect that Red would be that strong," Ineptune said.

"Yes, it seems as though we have underestimated him yet again. But if we are to take over the Dragon Worlds as well as Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds, we need to get him out of the way," the Sorcerer said.

"I have just the way," Misteria said.

"Please enlighten us," the Sorcerer said.

"We clearly know that Red's greatest weakness is that little brat of his. I can send that pipsqueak to a place that will keep Red distracted long enough for us to make our move. It's called Parasite Forest," Misteria said.

"What is that?" Ineptune asked.

"I'm glad you asked. Parasite Forest is a place that I created myself. Almost everyone who had wandered into my forest never came back out. I was able to lead that little brat there, but Red had apparently followed. If not for Red's interference, I would've killed the little brat there," Misteria responded.

"I'm starting to like that place already. It sounds like the perfect place for that little purple menace to finally be eliminated," the Sorcerer said.

"When the right opportunity comes, I'll send him there. Because Red will surely try to help his precious little son, it will leave the others vulnerable," Misteria said.

"Yes it will. The other Elders are nowhere near as powerful as we are. They will easily fall to our superior power," the Sorcerer said.

Meanwhile, there was a bit of a party going on at Dragon Shores. The witchdoctors from Luau Island had stopped by and were currently playing their drums. It didn't take too long before Brigid and Laird started dancing to the beat. Bianca and Blink had come by and were also soon on their feet moving to the beat. Even Sparx tried to dance to the beat. Spyro and the others just smiled as they watched their friends dancing to the drums.

"You should join us on the drums Spyro Ooga Booga," Rodtikiney said.

"I don't know," Spyro said hesitantly.

"Come on. You were great the last time. Play with us," Rodtikiney said.

"All right," Spyro said smiling. He went over to the empty set of drums and started playing the pattern he learned at Luau Island.

"Hahahahaha, you've still got it Spyro," Rodtikiney said.

Red just smiled as he watched his son play the drums. 'He never told me that he could play the drums. He's pretty good too,' he thought. He looked up when he saw a tall pink dragon in front of him. "Oh hey Mrs. Funderlic," he said.

"Do you want to dance?" Mrs. Funderlick asked.

"What about your husband?" Red asked in response.

"Don't worry Red. I already asked him. He said that he's fine with just watching," Mrs. Funderlic responded smiling.

"Okay then. I'll dance with you," Red said before he and Mrs. Funderlic went into the middle of the circle with Brigid and Laird and soon began dancing along to the drums as well.

Spyro glanced and saw his father dancing to the drums as well. He smiled before continuing to play. After playing the rhythms that he leared at Luau Island, he began creating his own rhythms. Flame and Ember had decided to stop by. When they saw the party going on, they were soon dancing themselves.

"This is great!" Flame said.

"It sure is," Ember agreed.

An hour later, everyone stopped to take a break.

"I never knew that you could play the drums Spyro. You played them very well I might add," Flame said.

"What Flame said," Ember said.

"That goes ditto for me," Red added.

"You were awesome Spyro hahahaha," Rodtikiney said.

"Yeah," the other four witchdoctors chorused.

"Thanks guys," Spyro said.

"Well we should be heading back to Luau Island now. But we'll visit every now and then," Rodtikiney said about half an hour later.

"I can hardly wait already. You sure know how to have fun," Flame said.

Spyro and the others waved as Rodtikiney and the other witchdoctors sailed away. Then everyone returned to his/her respective house. Spyro, Sparx and Red simply went back into the inn. Wanting to sail across the open sea, Hunter and Blink took the Sea Dragon back to their respective homes. Bianca teleported back to her home.

"Flame's right about thoes witchdoctors. They do know who to have a good time," Artigan said.

"They sure do," Red said.

Suddenly, a loud thunderclap boomed. The thunder was so loud that it actually shook the inn. Part of the roof caved in. Luckily, no one was under the part of the roof that caved in. A lightning bolt bad struck through the hole in the roof and formed a cage around Spyro. Then the electrical cage began to shrink. In only several seconds, the electrical cage disappeared, Spyro with it. It happened so fast, that there was really no time to react.

"Could someone tell me what just happened?" Artigan asked.

"Misteria must be behind this," Red responded.

"How perceptive of you," a familiar voice said.

Red looked up and saw both a now clear sky and Misteria descending through the hole. "What have you done with my son?" he asked lowly.

"Your precious little son is in my forest. I suggest that you leave now because it's only a matter of time before my minions find him. And one more thing, the beauty of creating a forest is that I can transport it to wherever I choose. So don't think that it's where you find it the last time. And you also can't just teleport there. If you try, the forest will simply disappear and relocate itself," Misteria said before disappearing.

"Oh no," Red said in horror.

"What is it? What did she mean?" Sparx asked.

"Spyro is in Parasite Forest," Red responded.

"What!" Sparx explained.

"That's right. Misteria took Spyro to Parasite Forest," Red responded. Then he proceeded to fly through the hole in the ceiling.

"Wait, just what did she mean by creating the forest?" Artigan asked.

"Sparx, can you tell him?" Red asked in response.

"Sure Red. Bring Spyro back safe," Sparx said.

"Don't worry. I will," Red said before flying through the hole in the ceiling. He tried to locate Spyro's aura but it was though something concealed it. _We've got a problem. Something is hiding Spyro's aura. It's got to be the forest_

/That's a large problem indeed. It's very obvious that Misteria doesn't want us finding Spyro easily. Maybe we can try to sense the forest itself/

_What do you mean?_

/Misteria said that she created the forest. So there must be quite a few things that we'll be able to sense from it that aren't normal/

Then the amulet started to glow. Red hovered in the air and closed his eyes. Both he and Cosma were trying to pick up anything unusual. Several minutes later, Red felt the energy of the forest trying to drain him mentally. But he was able to banish it from his mind.

/That was a close one/

_I know. But I was able to get a fix on where the forest is_

/Well there's no time to lose/

Red then shot through the sky. He prayed to every deity he knew that he would make it in time. 'I'm coming Spyro. I pray that you're all right,' he thought.

Meanwhile, Spyro was doing fine for now. The vines tried to latch around him, but he was able to evade them. After his earlier experience in the forest, he didn't want to take any chances. He walked slowly and cautiously through the forest. He was unaware that Misteria's minions were hot on his trail, quickly closing in on him.

'I hope that I find a way out of this spooky forest,' Spyro thought. Several moments later, he felt something strong grab him roughly around his middle. He looked down to see a scaly green arm around him. He looked up into glaring red eyes. "W-what are you?" he asked.

The creature couldn't speak so it simply hissed at him. Soon more creatures like the one that had Spyro came out. Spyro saw that the creatures had scaly bodies and stood on two legs. They had fin-like ears. They also had fins on their forearms and ankles, as well as a pectoral fin on their backs. They had gills, but apparently had no trouble breathing out of the water.

Then the creature holding Spyro bared its teeth at him, revealing three-inch long fangs. A yellow substance dripped from the tip of the fangs. This yellow substance was a deadly poison. Once injected, the poison would first paralyze the victim. After the paralysis, the posion would then begin to quickly shut the body down.

Spyro struggled as the creature lowered its fangs to his neck. He then breathed fire at it. The creature screamed in pain, dropping Spyro. Taking advantage of being let go, Spyro made a run for it. The creatures pursued. Their legs had become fins, and they were swimming through the air. It didn't take long for the creatures to completely surround Spyro. Then two of them lunged for Spyro.

Spyro jumped at the last moment, causing the creatures to stab each other. Due to how low the creature were when they lunged at Spyro, they ended up poking each other's eyes out. They were now blind. Soon another creature turned on a dime and came at him again, quicker this time. This time, the creature was able to squash Spyro across the right side of his body. Spyro screamed as the creature slashed him. He crumpled to the ground, a deep gash going across his right side. Blood began to flow freely from the large wound.

Then one of the creatures came at him, fangs bared. He could see the poison dripping from the fangs. He tried to breathe fire, but the extreme pain from the deep gash in his side prevented him from doing so. The creature closed the gap. Suddenly, the creature was frozen in its tracks. Another creature lunged for Spyro. But an ice beam came out of nowhere, freezing it as well. The frozen creature dropped to the ground.

"Who did that?" Spyro asked out loud.

"I did," a familiar deep voice responded from above.

Spyro quickly looked up, forgetting about the deep gash in his side. He moved too quickly while looking up, causing the gash to open even water. "Aaaaahhhhh!" he screamed in severe pain.

The blood still oozing out of the already deep gash was now pouring out of the now even wider gash. Spyro soon felt extremely dizzy from blood loss and fainted into his own-pooled blood. Another creature lunged at Spyro. But Spyro was suddenly lifted into the air. The creature ended up going right under Spyro. Under the influence of the Move spell, Spyro floated up into Red's arms. Then Red made himself and Spyro invisible.

"I'll make you all better Spyro," Red said. _I can heal his wound, but I don't think that would be of too much help this time. That's got to be at least half of his blood on the ground_

/You'll have to really concentrate on this one. You'll have to use your healing at full power/

_What do you mean by using it at full power? I thought that I have been using it at full power_

/It only takes a small amount of healing power to close wounds. But replenishing blood is different. Because Spyro has indeed lost over half his blood, it will take every ounce of your healing power to replenish it all. You can do it. I know you can/

Red closed his eyes in concentration. A light blue aura engulfed him and Spyro. The pooled blood on the ground floated into the air. It was cleaned of impurities before reentering through the gash in Spyro's side. After all the blood was back in place, the gash in Spyro's side started closing. Several seconds later, the gash was completely gone.

Several minutes later, Spyro began to regain consciousness. He felt strong scaly arms around him, but these arms held him in a much gentler grip that he knew very well. He immediately knew who was holding him, smiling as he looked into his father's gentle gaze.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you," Spyro responded. "I thought I was history," he added.

"I'm glad I made it in time. I was very worried when I saw how much blood you lost," Red said.

"How are we going to get out of this place though?" Spyro asked.

"If I could, I would simply teleport us out of here. But if I were to teleport even a short distance, the forest would probably reappear in the area that we appear at. Because Misteria created this forest, she has full control over it," Red responded. He saw that Spyro was looking down at the creatures.

"Why aren't those things coming after us?" Spyro asked.

"I made us invisible to them," Red responded.

"But they would've been able to sniff me out though," Spyro said.

"Not precisely Spyro. I also made us undetectable to them. That is the power of full invisibility," Red said before flying on. He landed about ten minutes later and powered down his invisibility before putting Spyro down.

Then the ground began to shake. Numerous vines began sprouting from out of the ground. Instead of lashing out at Spyro and Red, the vines simply melded together. As the vines melded, they began to form a solid being. Several minutes later, the melding was complete. A fifty-foot vine monster stood before the pair. The monster then reached out to grap Spyro.

"Oh no you don't," Red said. He picked up Spyro and flew out of the arm's path.

"Were those parasite vines?" Spyro asked.

"Yes they were. I never knew that they could do this," Red responded. He veered left to avoid the monster's arm again. Then he veered right.

"Is there any place you could put me?" Spyro asked.

"If this were a normal forest, I would put you in one of the trees. But the trees can drain the life out of you just like this ugly thing in front of us can. The ground itself is the only thing that doesn't feed off of living energy," Red responded. He dodged the monster for an additional ten minutes. "Okay, now I'm getting annoyed. Let's teach this vine reject a lesson," he added.

"Gladly," Spyro said before he and Red breathed fire at the monster.

The monster screamed as the fire burned through it. Alone, Spyro wouldn't have been come close to burning this monster, but with Red helping, their combined flame was more that enough to do damage. The monster screamed as Spyro and Red's flames burned through it. Soon, Spyro and Red had severed the monster into two halves. The halves fell to the floor. But the halves then inched towards each other, trying to become whole again.

"Not so fast," Red said before breathing fire down on one of the halves.

About five minutes later, the half had completely burned away. The other half shared the same fate as Red burned it away as well. Then Red landed before putting Spyro down again. Then they continued on foot. About two hours later, Spyro began to slow down. It was clear that he needed a break.

"We need...to stop...somewhere. I'm...getting...pretty tired," Spyro said between pants.

"I need a break as well, but we can't stop here. There's too much vegetation. But I know where we can rest," Red said before picking Spyro up. He then flew off. He landed at a clearing half an hour later and carefully set Spyro down; Spyro had drifted off to sleep during the flight. He soon lay down next to his sleeping son. He wrapped his arms around Spyro before going into a light doze, knowing that anything could happen in Parasite Forest.

Meanwhile, things were very dreary in the Dragon Worlds, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds. The Sorcerer had first dragged all the inhabitants back into the Shadow Realm, which was bad news for the Elders, wizards, fairies and all who possessed magic. Feeling drained of their magic once again; the magic wielders couldn't put up much of a resistance. Once again, they were prisoners in the Shadow Realm. Second, the villages and towns were severly damaged to completely destroyed. Finally, the Sorcerer created a palace at Dragon Shores.

"The inhabitants never knew what hit them. I do love the element of surprise," Misteria said smirking.

"As do I. It makes conquest so much easier," the Sorcerer added.

"And with Red in Parasite Forest, no one will be able to stop us," Ineptune added.

Meanwhile in Parasite Forest, Red came out of his light doze. He could sense that something was terribly wrong.

/What's wrong/

_Something bad has happened. I can sense it_ He reached out with his mind to find out what happened. He soon mentally gasped. _Oh no. The Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune have taken over. The villages of the Dragon Worlds, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds have been wiped out. All the inhabitants have been taken prisoner_

/We need to get out of here as soon as possible/

_I just wish that I could teleport out of here_

/I know. Things would've been a lot different if you could. But Misteria has made things tough for us/

_True she has made things tough for us. But I'm not giving up. I will get Spyro out of this forsaken place and help our friends_

/With your fierce determination, I know you will/

Red really couldn't get back to sleep so he watched over Spyro. His resolve to get out of Parasite Forest was already high. Now after finding out about what the Sorcerer, Ineptune and Misteria have done, he was more determined than ever to get back and help the inhabitants of the Dragon Worlds, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds. And nothing that Misteria could throw at him would dampen that resolve.

And here's the end of this chapter. Only two more chapters to go. Preview for Chapter 9: Big-Scale Rescue: Red and Spyro make it out of Parasite Forest, having a big scare occur in the process. After getting out of the unnatural forest, they embark on a huge rescue mission to save their friends. But some of the prisoners have been tortured and have sustained serious injury. Can Spyro and Red make it to their friends in time? Stay tuned to find out.


	9. BigScale Rescue

Recap: Things had appeared to be up and running again for everyone. For a full year, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The Sorcerer, Misteria or Ineptune didn't attempt anything. Everyone enjoyed the peace. But peace came to an end when the Sorcerer did eventually strike. After attacking the Dragon Dojo, he headed for the Dragon Shores Inn and captured Spyro. But Red was able to free Spyro. Soon afterwards, everyone in Dragon Shores had a good time when the Luau Island witchdoctors paid a visit. But after the fun was over, Misteria struck. She sent Spyro straight to Parasite Forest, which was part of a plot to take over the Dragon Worlds, the Forgotten Worlds and Avalar. The Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune knew that Red would go to Parasite Forest to help Spyro, which would leave everyone else completely vulnerable for attack. Now, the inhabitants of the Dragon Worlds, the Forgotten Worlds and Avalar were prisoners in the Shadow Realm.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
/ is Red mental talk  
' is thoughts

Chapter 9: Big-Scale Rescue

It was a very bad day indeed for everyone in the Dragon and Forgotten Worlds and Avalar. At one moment, everyone was enjoying a peaceful day. The next moment, they were forced into the Shadow Realm and were now prisoners. With no inhabitants any longer in the Real World, takeover was easy for the Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune.

It was evening now. Spyro and Red were asleep in Parasite Forest. After Spyro woke up from an hour nap, they had traveled until dusk. They had stopped at another clearing to sleep for the night. Red had then erected a force field around them to ensure that no one or nothing would try anything against them this night. The fish men attempted to do away with Spyro and Red during the night. But their attempts were in vain thanks to the force field. They retreated so as not to arouse suspicion. But the not arousing suspicion part was thrown out the window. Cosma and Red sensed their presence the entire time.

/It's a good thing you erected the force field/

/I know/

Cosma had awakened Red the next morning. Because the sun could never penetrate into Parasite Forest, it was otherwise very hard to tell whether it was day or night.

/Thanks Cosma. It really comes in handy to be able to track time of day in a place like this/

/Hey, no problem/

Red gently shook Spyro. "It's time to get up."

Spyro slowly awakened. He yawned and stood up. "Is there anything in this forest that we can eat? I'm famished."

"I'm pretty hungry too Spyro. Unfortunately, there is no food here. And the water can drain the life out of your body," Red said.

Just then, Red's amulet glowed. A metal tray suddenly appeared. Then all kinds of fruit appeared on the tray before the amulet stopped glowing.

/Thanks/

/You're welcome/

"Who did that?" Spyro asked in awe.

"Cosma did it," Red responded.

"Who's Cosma?" Spyro asked.

"This amulet contains Cosma's soul. She was once the most powerful fairy. She's the reason to why this large tray of fruit is here," Red responded.

"Great. Let's eat," Spyro said before practically diving into the fruit.

Red chuckled a little before starting to eat the fruit himself. The tray was pretty large, and there was quite a bit of fruit on it. But Spyro and Red were so hungry that they ate all the fruit on the tray. Then the tray disappeared.

"I needed that. I feel better now," Spyro said.

"That was very good," Red agreed.

Half an hour later, they continued on. Only five minutes later, Red swung his tail around. Spyro had looked back upon seeing Red do that and saw a fish man go flying into a tree.

"That was a close one," Spyro said.

"Yes it was," Red said. He quickly turned around and breathed fire at another incoming fish man.

The fish man panicked and fled before the fire could reach him.

"It looks like we're surrounded," Spyro said. "Whoa!" he exclaimed upon suddenly being grabbed and taken into the air.

"Sorry about that Spyro. It's just that two of those things came at us from different directions," Red said. Then he froze most of them solid.

One lone fish man was left. He had managed to avoid being frozen. By the angry look in its eyes, Red could tell that this fish man wasn't going to be driven off easily. He landed and put Spyro down. Then the fish man attacked. Red swatted it with his tail. The fish man went flying into a tree. But it quickly recovered. Then it came up with a sneaky idea. It came at Red fast. Red easily saw the fish man because it was traveling nowhere near as fast as he could. He flew above it. But that's what the fish man was hoping for. In evading the fish man, Red left Spyro open for capture.

"Dad, help!" Spyro screamed.

Red quickly looked up upon hearing his son's cry for help. He instantly realized that the fish man pulled a fast one on him. He was so angry that he roared. He shot into the air and quickly cut off the fish man. "You won't get away from me," he said growling.

Spyro could literally see how angry his father was. 'I never thought that he could actually roar. He really is furious,' he thought.

Red's body was crackling with electricity. He then shot out an electrical beam at the fish man. The fish man, who looked tough just a few moments ago, was now panicking. He dodged the incoming beam with only seconds to spare. Then he took off in the other direction. 

"No you don't," Red said before easily blocking the fish man off again.

The fish man then went higher into the air. Red simply pursued it. He prepared to breathe fire at it. The fish man then turned around and put Spyro in front of it, like a shield. Red growled at seeing Spyro being used like a shield. Red flew up quickly, striking the fish man in the gills. The fish man dropped Spyro to cover his damaged neck.

Red's anger quickly died, and the electricity disappeared from around him. He swooped down and caught Spyro. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I am now," Spyro responded. "Those things don't know when to give up," he added.

"No they don't. If not for the force field I put around us, there's no telling what might have happened last night," Red said.

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked.

"They tried to attack us while we slept. Although I was asleep, I could sense them around us," Red responded simply.

Meanwhile in the Shadow Realm, the Sorcerer's monsters were mercilessly assaulting some of the prisoners. The Sorcerer took the precaution to have the blue and/or red armored monsters guard certain prisoners. That way, the Elders wouldn't have much of a fighting chance against the monsters. With their magic drained, the wizards, fairies and Bianca wouldn't be of too much help either.

"When is this nightmare going to end?" Zoe asked.

"I know what you mean," Bianca responded.

"I just hope that Spyro and Red are all right. There's no telling what's happening in Parasite Forest," Amp said.

"We all hope that they're all right," Sparx said.

An hour later in Parasite Forest, a red blur streaked through the sky.

"Please, hold on Spyro," Red said desperately as he carried Spyro through the air.

One of the fish men had managed to finally inject its poison into Spyro's body. Spyro instantly felt the effects as the poison quickly immobilized him. About ten minutes after being poisoned, Spyro lost consciousness. Red knew that he had to act fast because the poison would run its course in three hours and one hour has already passed.

There is an antidote to the poison, but getting to it in time was the big issue. Deep within the forest, almost at the extit, was a green pond. This pond had chlorophyll pigments in it, which was the antidote. Misteria created the chlorophyll pond because her minions had sometimes accidentally poisoned her. Upon swallowing the water, she would be cured of the poison.

Red actually had an advantage on his side. While dating Misteria, he happened to see the chlorophyll pond. He had always wondered why a pond of chlorophyll would be in such a place like Parasite Forest. Then he happened to see Misteria drink from the pond. He had asked Misteria about it and found out that the chlorophyll was the antidote to a poison found only in the forest.

'I never thought that I would be thanking dating Misteria for something. But if it wasn't for when she was unintentionally poisoned that day, I would've never known that the chlorophyll pond was the antidote to those fish-like creatures' poisonous bite,' Red thought as he continued rocketing through the sky. An hour later, he began descending because he sensed the chlorophyll pond nearby. A few minutes later, he landed next to the pond.

/How will you get Spyro to drink the water/

/The only way to get him to drink the water is for him to be conscious/ He then dipped Spyro into the water.

The chlorophyll went into Spyro's body through his nose. A few minutes later, Spyro began to stir. Red felt the movement and brought Spyro out of the water before placing Spyro next to it. Spyro would still need to drink from the pond because only limited amounts of chlorophyll went through his nose.

"Why do I feel so strange?" Spyro asked.

"That fish-like creature injected you with a deadly poison. We're now standing next to a chlorophyll pond. You feel a little better now, but you'll have to drink from the pond to feel completely better because I can sense that the amount of chlorophyll in you is not enough to completely eradicate the poison inside you," Red responded.

Spyro nodded and drank from the pond. He had his fill a few minutes later. He felt increasingly better as the minutes ticked by. About ten minutes later, he felt completely better.

"How do you feel now?" Red asked.

"Much better," Spyro responded. He looked ahead and saw daylight. "We're just about out of here as well," he added.

"We sure are. Let's go," Red said.

Spyro and Red walked the remaining meters to the exit. Upon exiting, the forest disappeared, relocating itself.

"What do we do now?" Spyro asked.

"We find out where the Sorcerer is keeping our friends," Red responded before telling Spyro what has transpired.

"Our friends could be anywhere," Spyro said.

"I know, and that worries me," Red said.

"Do you think that I can help?" Spyro asked.

"Yes. Thinking that we would be in Parasite Forest longer, the Sorcerer probably didn't send the monsters that would take Chi or the Cyclone spell to beat. Even if he did, I can easily deal with them," Red responded before picking up Spyro and flying into the sky. He landed around the ruins of Dragon Dojo. He and Spyro walked around for a bit and found a dimension portal.

Red picked Spyro up before stepping onto the portal and entering the Shadow Realm. Red put Spyro down before they walked side-by-side, hoping to find any of their friends. Several moments later, a group of Shadow Knights confronted the duo. But these knights weren't wearing blue or red armor. When one of the knights tried to attack Spyro, Spyro used a series of Tail Hammer attacks. Then the sky clouded up. A few seconds afterward, multiple lightning bolts struck the remaining knights. The knights disappeared in puffs of wispy smoke. Spyro and Red continued onward.

"That was amazing dad. Normally, the Shock spell only gives off one lightning bolt at a time," Spyro said.

"Yes. One of my new abilities is being able to control the elements. I caused the sky to cloud up and was able to give off multiple Shock spells at once," Red said.

"Cool, with your ability to control the elements as well as your other powers and abilities, you have an overwhelming edge over Misteria," Spyro said.

"That is true. But I still can't let my guard down. Misteria can't be beaten with brute force alone," Red said.

"Red, Spyro, is that you guys?" a familiar voice asked.

Spyro and Red looked up in the voice's direction. Red picked up Spyro before rushing to the source of the voice. They soon saw Hunter surrounded by armadillo-like monsters. These monsters weren't lined with blue or red armor, meaning a simple Horn Jab and Tail Hammer were all that would be needed to take care of them.

The monsters turned around and saw Spyro and Red. Two of them came at Spyro. Spyro just used Horn Jab to flip them both over. Then he used Tail Hammer to take care of them. Red had taken out about five of the seven remaining monsters with a Chi Roar attack. Spyro made quick work of the remaining two. The shadowy cage around Hunter then disappeared.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you two. You're real lifesavers," Hunter said.

"No problem Hunter," Spyro said.

"Do you know where any of the others are?" Red asked.

"Well my dad, brother, Neema and Adama are scattered around this area. I don't know where the others are," Hunter responded.

"We'll help them. I'll send you back to the Real World now," Red said before using the teleport sepll to take hunter out of the Shadow Realm.

"Whoa, you can now use the teleport spell to teleport others without them touching you," Spyro said.

"Yes I can. As you can see, it will come in real handy," Red said. "Let's find Hunter's friends and family," he added.

"Well I'm like over here!" a female voice shouted.

Spyro and Red looked over towards the cliff and saw a teenage cheetah about a foot away from the edge, surrounded by Shadow Knights. Again, these knights weren't wearing red or blue armor.

"Look over this way!" another female voice shouted.

Spyro and Red looked over and saw Adama on a platform jutting out of a lake. The duck-like monsters surrounded Adama. Fortunately, these monsters weren't wearing blue armor.

"Spyro, I'll help Adama. You help Neema," Red said.

Spyro nodded before he and Red split up. The duck-like monsters tried to shoot Red down, but Red easily evaded the oncoming attacks. He landed in the circle that they had created before giving them a Tail Swipe attack, taking them all out. Then the cage around Adama had disappeared. 

"Thanks," Adama said.

"No problem," Red said. "Reday to return to the Real World?" he added.

"Am I ever," Adama responded before Red teleported her back to the Real World.

Meanwhile, Spyro was finishing off the Shadow Knights. He was battling two at once. One last Tail Hammer finished them both off. A few seconds later, Neema was free.

"Thanks Spyro. I thought I was going to be trapped forever," Neema said.

"You're welcome Neema," Spyro said.

"Great job Spyro," Red said upon landing.

"I'm ready to get out of here now. I hope I never have to be in this eerie dimension again," Neema said.

"I'm all to happy to oblige," Red said before teleporting Neema out of the Shadow Realm.

"Well Akello and Kasi are left," Spyro said.

"Let's check inside the cave. If they're not in there, then maybe they're on the other side," Red suggested.

"Good idea," Spyro said before heading to the cave, Red close behind.

Upon entering the cave, they heard two cries of pain. They knew that they found who they were looking for. They also saw that where there were once rocky platforms, there was now an abyss. Red and Spyro glided across the chasm. Upon landing on the other side, they saw Kasi and Akello trapped with spider-like creatures brutally attacking them.

"When...will...they stop?" Kasi asked. He was covered in bruises and a couple of deep gashes.

"How about now?" a voice responded.

Kasi and the spider-like creatures turned to see Spyro and Red about a foot away from the creatures. This time, half of the group of spider-like creatures was wearing blue or red armor while the other half was plain. The armor-wearing creatures attempted to go for Spyro, but Red fired Chi at them, forcing them to turn their attention to Red.

It didn't take long for Spyro and Red to take care of the spider-like creatures. Afterwards, Kasi and Akello were released. They crumpled to the ground, barely clinging to life from the multiple injuries inflicted on them. Spyro and Red walked over to the gravely injured pair.

"Is it too late to heal them?" Spyro asked worriedly.

"Fortunately no," Red responded. He healed Akello first.

Akello regained consciousness. He looked up and saw Spyro and Red looking at him.

"Are you all right?" Spyro asked.

"I am now. But you've got to help me son Kasi," Akello responded.

"I'm on it," Red said before healing Kasi as well.

Kasi soon regained consciousness as well. He looked up and saw Spyro and Red looking at him. "Thank goodness you came in time. I don't know how much longer my father and I could've lasted," he said.

"It's no problem," Red said.

"Did you find the others?" Kasi asked.

"Yes. They're all back in the Real World now. Dad can take you back as well," Spyro responded.

"Please do. I've had enough of this creepy world," Akello said.

Red nodded before sending Akello and Kasi back to the Real World. Then he picked up Spyro and also teleported to the Real World before placing Spyro down. Hunter and the other cheetahs had gathered in front of the destroyed dojo. Red and Spyro soon joined them.

"Thanks again for saving us," Adama said.

"It was our pleasure," Spyro said.

"I overheard that the Sorcerer has trapped Bianca, Sparx and the fairies in Dragon Village," Adama said.

"We need to head there fast," Spyro said.

"Agreed. First I'll help Hunter and the others to what's left of their home," Red said before teleporting them back to Avalar. Then he picked up Spyro and went back into the Shadow Realm before flying off to Dragon Village.

Upon arriving, Spyro saw that he would have a hard time helping in the rescue. All of the monsters here were wearing blue or red armor. There were also alien-like monsters present. Not wanting to take any chances with the fairies, the Sorcerer made sure to have his strongest monsters guard them.

"Well I'l be more of a hindrance than a help here," Spyro said.

"I'll send you to the Real World then," Red said before sending Spyro to the Real World.

Spyro looked around and saw that much of the village was destroyed. He saw only one house still standing and decided to wait in there. Meanwhile, Red was doing quite well by himself. He had taken out over half of the Shadow monsters already and had freed Amp and Aqua, sending them to the Real World afterwards. Then he took and smashed the glass jar that Sparx was trapped in, sending Sparx to the Real World immediately afterwards as well. Only Bianca, Zoe, and Trina remained. 

He found them several moments later. Bianca, Zoe and Trina had been badly injured. He took out the Shadow monsters guarding them before tending to Bianca, Zoe and Trina's wounds. Trina was still very much in a state of shock. Red then transported everyone plus himself back to the Real World.

"Thanks Red," Bianca said.

"It was no problem Bianca," Red said. He had noticed the undamaged house upon returning to the Real World.

"Where's Spyro?" Sparx asked.

"He's in that house over there," Red responded, pointing to where the house was. He headed over to it and went inside. "Everyone's just fine now Spyro. Come on out," he said.

Spyro nodded before coming out of the house.

"I heard that the Sorcerer sent the Elders to his world. To make sure that they would still be powerless, he bound them with shadowy chains. He also brought Ice Minion back and sent him to guard them. And since there is no possible way to enter the Shadow Realm from there, Spyro really won't be able to do much to it," Zoe said.

"I'll head over there and free the other Elders. You'll have to stay here Spyro," Red said.

"I understand," Spyro said. "Good luck," he added.

"Thanks son," Red said before teleporting to the Sorcerer's world. He immediately spotted Ice Minion and the other Elders. He saw shadowy chains binding the Elders to the rocky walls.

Tomas and the others were very relieved to see Red.

"That little half pint of yours might have been able to defeat me. But I'll make sure you won't," Ice Minion said.

"Sure, that's what they all say," Red said mockingly.

Ice Minion then quickly brought his lance down towards Red. The lance was brought down with so much force that sound waves generated from it. Instead of getting out of the way, Red caught the lance. Ice Minion tried to get his lance back, but Red had an iron grip on it. The lance wouldn't budge. The Elders looked on in awe and disbelief at what Red just did.

"He caught the lance without even flinching," Tomas said in awe.

"Yeah, and the lance had a lot of momentum from the force that Ice Minion generated," Astor said in as much awe as Tomas.

"He really is a lot stronger. I don't think any of us would've been able to do that," Cho Lei said.

"I know I wouldn't have," Titan said.

"Arrrgh, give me my lance back!" Ice Minion sadi, still struggling to free his unmovable lance.

"Whatever you say," Red said smirking before simply letting go of the lance.

Because Ice Minion had used all his strength in trying to get his lance back, he built up even more momentum. When Red let go, the momentum sent Ice Minion flying backwards and eventually falling through the sky. About ten minutes later, the Elders were free of their shadowy bonds. Then they felt their powers slowly returning.

"Free at last," Cho Lei said.

"Thank you," Titan said.

"Don't mention it," Red said.

About ten minutes later, the Elders were strong enough to teleport on their own.

"Where should we teleport to?" Ragnar asked.

"Let's head to Dragon Village," Red responded.

The others nodded before everyone teleported to Dragon Village.

"Are you guys all right?" Spyro asked.

"We are," Titan responded.

"Bianca, didn't you say that Sheila's visiting your cousins?" Sparx asked.

Bianca gasped in horror. "I forgot about that. Now she's probably in just as much trouble as they are if not more," she said.

"The Sorcerer probably doesn't have the blue or red armored monsters guarding them so maybe I can help," Spyro said.

"Agreed. Let's go," Red said before picking Spyro up. He entered the Shadow Realm before teleporting to Bianca's cousins' farm.

Upon entering, Red put Spyro down. They saw not only the armadillo-looking monsters, but also the alien monsters. The armadillo-looking monsters were wearing regular armor so Spyro wouldn't have a problem with them. Then Spyro and Red heard an alien-like sound. They looked in the sound's direction to see an alien monster about five feet away from them.

"It's about to attack," Spyro said.

"Don't worry. It won't hit us," Red said before erecting a force field.

The alien monster attacked. But the attack dispersed upon coming in contact with the force field. The alien monster continued attacking in vain as the force field held strong. Even when other alien monsters joined in, they couldn't penetrate the force field.

"I think it's time to take care of these brainless things," Red said. He then shot a Chi wave through the force field.

The Chi wave was so powerful that it destroyed the monsters upon impact with them. Then Red removed the force field. It was only the armadillo-looking monsters that were left. Spyro and Red made quick work of them. The cages disappeared. Spyro and Red looked for Sheila. They soon saw her lying unconscious on the ground. They went over to her and saw her many serious injuries.

"Will she be okay?" Teresa asked.

"She'll be fine," Spyro responded.

Red kneeled next to Sheila before letting his healing power flow through her. Teresa, Bruno and Lucia watched in awe as Sheila's wounds closed. Several minutes later, Sheila was completely healed. She regained consciousness. When her vision cleared, she saw Red looking at her.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now. Thank you," Sheila responded as Red helped her up. "I hope that I never have to see another monster like that white one ever again," she added.

"Well I'm ready to get back to our dimension," Teresa said.

"Us too," Lucia and Bruno said.

"All right," Red said before transporting everyone to the Real World.

Lucia, Bruno and Teresa gasped in horror upon seeing what was left of their farm. The crops were torn, or simply burnt to a crisp. The wooden decks and shacks looked like a tornado hit them.

"We'll have a lot of cleaning up to do," Teresa said.

"We might as well get started. The sooner we can clean up, the sooner we can rebuild," Bruno said.

"I'll help with the cleanup," Sheila said.

"The Professor and his family are trapped in Mole Caves," Lucia said.

"I'll help with the cleanup. I have a feeling that those blue or red armored monsters are guarding them," Spyro said.

"All right," Red said before heading into Mole Caves. He then went into the Shadow Realm through the dimension portal and saw that Spyro was indeed right.

"Red, thank goodness you're here. I thought that no one would find us," the Professor said upon looking up and seeing him.

"Don't worry Professor. I'll have you out of there soon," Red said before dealing with the monsters guarding the cage. After he dealt with the last one, he saw the cage disappear.

"I hope to never go through that again," the Professor said.

Then Red sent the Professor back to the Real World.

"Is someone there?" a voice asked.

"Where are you?" Red asked.

"We're to the northeast of you," another voice responded.

Red headed in the voices' direction and saw Sis and Willard. Shadow Knights wearing red or blue armor surrounded them. Red erected a force field around Sis and Willard before taking the Shadow Knights out with a very powerful Chi Roar attack. After the attack died down, Red took down the force field. Then the shadow cage disappeared.

"Thank you so much," Sis said.

"You're very welcome," Red said smiling. "Are you ready to head to the Real World now?" he added.

"We sure are," Willard responded.

"Do either of you know where Blink is?" Red asked.

"I don't know exactly where he is. But he's around here somewhere," Sis responded.

Red could tell that Sis was on the verge of breaking down. "Don't worry. I'll find him," he said before sending her and Willard back to the Real World. He then went down the stairs where the large piles of rock once were. He soon found Blink and gasped in horror.

Blink's injuries were the most severe of the injuries that he has seen today. Red knew that he had to get rid of the spider-like monsters fast. He sent a Chi wave at them, which easily decimated them. The shadow cage disappeared, and he rushed over to Blink's side. Blink had multiple gashes across his body and a lot of blood had come out of them. Red checked for a pulse and thankfully found one, but ti was very weak.

He closed his eyes in concentration, knowing that he would have to use his full healing power on this one. The pooled blood on the ground was cleansed of impurities before returning to Blink's body. The gashes closed up as the amount of blood that came out of them was replenished. Soon, all the gashes had closed up, and Blink regained consciousness. He saw Red's very worried gaze upon him.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you. I didn't think I was going to pull through," Blink responded. He tried to get up but went back down. "I don't suppose you could help me up could you?" he asked.

Red smiled and helped Blink stand. A few minutes later, he let Blink go.

"So where's Spyro?" Blink asked.

"He's helping Bianca's cousins clean up. Their farm was destroyed," Red responded.

"Well I'm ready to get out of this creepy place," Blink said.

"It would be my pleasure," Red said before sending Blink back to the Real World. Then he went back up the stairs and entered the Real World through a dimension portal.

"Well it's going to take a while to replace all our technology. I heard Misteria say that the Sorcerer destroyed my lab," the Professor said.

"I can help you with that. I can use things from my lab to help you rebuild yours," Red offered.

"That would be a huge help. Thank you," the Professor said.

"Moneybags and his family are trapped in Big Bear Forest," Blink said.

"And the wizard are trapped in the Mountain of Magic," Sis added.

"Thanks for the info," Red said before teleporting back to the farm.

Spyro looked up and saw Red. "They're okay right?" he asked.

"Don't worry Spyro. They're fine. Blink had extremely bad injuries. I was thankful to be in time," Red responded. "Blink and Sis told me that Moneybags and his family are in Big Bear Forest, and the wizards are in the Mountain of Magic," he added.

"We should help Moneybags and his family first," Spyro said. "I just hope that those monsters with long tails aren't there," he added.

"I can easily take care of them," Red said before picking up Spyro and entering the Shadow Realm through a dimension portal. Then he teleported to Big Bear Forest.

Moneybags happened to look up. He was greatly relieved upon seeing Spyro and Red. "It's good to see friendly faces," he said.

To Spyro's dismay, the ugly monsters with long tails were present. One of them approached and lashed out at Spyro. But Red caught the tail before lifting the monster up and spinning it around a few times and throwing it into the air. The monster was out of sight in seconds.

"Whoa," Spyro said in awe.

"You said it," Moneybags said, also in awe.

Then Red destroyed the other monsters with a Chi Roar attack. The cage disappeared, and Moneybags was free.

"Freedom has never felt so good," Moneybags said.

"It was no problem," Red said before transporting Moneybags to the Real World.

"Can you be dears and help me out?" a female voice asked.

Spyro and Red turned around and saw Mrs. Moneybags being guarded by the spider-like monsters. But these monsters weren't wearing blue or red armor.

"I'll deal with them," Spyro said before hearing another plea for help.

"I'll take care of that one," Red said.

Spyro nodded before Red went in another direction. Spyro then took out the spider-like monsters with Horn Tosses. When the last one had been taken care of, the cage holding Mrs. Moneybags prisoner faded away.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," Mrs. Moneybags said.

"It was no problem," Spyro said.

Meanwhile, Red had just finished dealing with the duck-like monsters. The large cage disappeared, freeing Maxwell, Merton and Marshall.

"That..." Marshall started.

"Was..." Merton added.

"No fun..." Maxwell added.

"Again!" all three of them finished.

"Thanks for helping us out," Merton said.

"You're welcome," Red said before moving the large stone block out of the way.

Then Merton, Maxwell and Marshall went down the few steps and greeted their mother.

"Thank goodness you three are safe," Mrs. Moneybags said.

Red then returned them to the Real World before transporting himself and Spyro there as well.

"It's going to take a while for us to get back on track again," Moneybags said.

"Well you have all the help you need. You only have to ask," Red said as Spyro nodded.

"Thank you very much," Mrs. Moneybags said.

"Now only the wizards remain," Spyro said.

"Yes. I'll send you back to Dragon Village. I don't think that you'll be able to help rescuing them," Red said.

Spyro nodded, and Red sent him back to Dragon Village. Then he entered the Shadow Realm once more before teleporting to the Mountain of Magic. Panthanitis saw a bright light out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and saw Red.

"Many praises that you are here," Panthanitis said.

As Red got closer to Panthanitis, the serpent heads sprung out of the ground. Red took them out with Chi Punch. Then Panthanitis was free.

"Oh happy day. The others are trapped inside the aviary," Panthanitis said before Red transported him back to the Real World.

Red flew up and landed in front of the aviary. He went inside and saw a group of six monsters with long tails. They all got within strinking range and lashed out simultaneously at Red. Red gave a bored yawn before catching all their tails. Then he tied them in a knot before zapping all six of the monsters with electricity. The monsters were destroyed in seconds and the remaining four wizard were free.

"Thank you mighty dragon," Pullosin said.

"Don't mention it," Red said before transporting them and himself to the Real World.

Panthanitis was now in the aviary as well. The aviary was the only building in tact.

"Our powers are slowly returning," Longorin said.

"What a relief it is to be out of the Shadow Realm," Pastemolle said.

"I thought the being sent to the Shadow Realm thing was over," Midian said.

"The only way for it to truly be over will be to defeat the Sorcerer once and for all," Red said.

"If there's anyone who can do it, it's you," Longorin said.

Red teleported back to Dragon Village. He saw that Zoe and her friends were still there. "Are you ready to return to the Wilderness?" he asked them.

"Yes please," Amp responded as the others nodded.

"Oh by the way, Panthanitis had come and gone just seconds before you arrived. He told us ts that the cavemen are prisoners in Skelos Badlands, and the armadillos are prisoners in Cliff Town," Zoe said before Red sent her and her friends back to the Wilderness.

"Well it looks like I'm off again," Red said before teleporting to Cliff Town. He found all the armadillos trapped inside a large cage with blue-armored Shadow Knights guarding them. He quickly disposed of the knights, freeing the armadillos.

"Gracias amigo," Bandit said.

"You're welcome," Red said.

"I thought the Sorcerer had been defeated," Isabel said.

"Us too," Pablo and Sofia agreed.

"Well I guess we should start cleaning up now," Bandit said.

Red then took the armadillos back to the Real World before heading to Skelos Badlands. He immediately saw Lumpy. Lumpy looked up and saw him as well.

"Please help!" Lumpy said.

"Don't worry. I'll have you free in a few moments," Red said.

The duck-like monsters fired their ammo, but Red was at least one step ahead of them. He took all seven of them out with a Chi Roar attack. Lumpy was now free.

"Thank you. You good friend," Lumpy said.

"Don't mention it," Red said before sending Lumpy back to the Real World. He found Gronk and Dirt nearby.

They were trapped inside the same cage, blue-armored Shadow Knights surrounding them. Red quickly dealt with the knights' freeing the two cavemen.

"Mighty dragon good," Dirt said.

"Thanks for helping us," Gronk added.

"No problem," Red said before taking them back to the Real World.

"Ooga over here! Ooga over here!" a voice shouted.

Red's head snapped up. He flew in the direction of the voice and soon saw Ooga in the middle of a serpentine circle. He landed. He focused his Chi and created a Chi circle. The energy circle took out all of the serpent heads. Ooga was now free.

"Ooga thank you," Ooga said.

"You're welcome," Red said before teleporting Ooga and himself to the Real World.

"Our home gone," Lumpy said.

"We rebuild," Dirt said.

"Yes. It take long but we do it," Gronk said.

Then Red teleported back to Dragon Village.

"Well everyone has been freed," Tomas said.

"Everyone except Ember, Flame and the other dragons of Dragon Village and Dragon Shores. The Sorcerer must have them," Red said.

"We have to help them," Spyro said.

"We will Spyro. I suspect that the Sorcerer knows that the others have been freed," Red said. He was indeed right.

The Sorcerer had sensed that the only prisoners left were the ones in his new base. "Curse them. They have freed everyone except the dragons here," he said.

"I don't understand how they got out of my forest so quickly. I had made sure to make it a lot longer than it was last time," Misteria said.

"We have underestimated Red yet again. But this time, we finish him and his precious little son off. With them permanently out of the way, nothing will be able to stop us," the Sorcerer said.

"I sense a battle in the near future," Ineptune said.

"Indeed. This time, we will come out on top," the Sorcerer said.

And that's the end of this chapter. Only one chapter left. Preview for Chapter 10: Final Showdown: The freed inhabitants continue with the process of cleaning up their damaged to destroyed homes. A plan is put in place to free the remaining prisoners. It all leads to a final battle between Red and Misteria. Who will come out the victor? Stay close to find out.


	10. Final Showdown

Recap: Spyro and Red were still in Parasite Forest. Their way out was a bittersweet one. That was because Spyro had been poisoned and it was a race against time to get him the antidote. Luckily, he did get the antidote in time. Not only that, but they were just about at the exit as well. Then they went on a rescue mission and freed most of their friends from the Shadow Realm. Now the only ones left to rescue were the dragons of Dragon Shores and Dragon Village.  
/ is Cosma mental talk  
// is Red mental talk  
' is thoughts

Chapter 10: Final Showdown

Three days have passed since the big rescue went down. Spyro was able to help the rescue in some areas but not others. That was because the other areas were full of blue or red armored monsters. But Red had covered those areas and freed the hostages in them. Currently, all except the dragons of Dragon Village and Dragon Shores had been rescued and accounted for. Red and the other Elders were in the house left standing in Dragon Village. They were planning out what they should do next.

"We have to find a way to rescue the others, although that's what the Sorcerer expects," Tomas said.

"True that the Sorcerer is expecting us. But that doesn't mean that we need to be completely predictable. We need to come up with some things that he won't expect us to do," Red said.

"That's a good point," Ragnar said as the others nodded.

Meanwhile, the cleanup process had been a long and tedious one. There was much debris to be sifted through. Spyro helped out wherever he could. He had helped out in Dragon Village for the past two days. He was currently helping Bianca and her cousins clean up their farm. Sheila was also there helping out. They first sorted through the crops. To Teresa, Lucia the crops, they went back to cleaning up the broken wood.

"Whew, this is hard work," Spyro said.

"You said it. But it needs to be done," Sheila said.

"I'm just glad that we're alive to do this. The situation could've easily been much worse," Bianca said as the others nodded.

Meanwhile in Mole Caves, Hunter and his friends/family were helping the Professor and family clean up. Just about everything was non salvageable. The technology had been so distorted that not even the Professor or Sis could tell what used to be what. In fact, Blink was wearing the only in tact technology in Mole Caves.

"Well not too much is salvageable here," the Professor said as he continued cleaning up.

"I don't get why the Sorcerer would see us a such a threat. We don't know any kind of magic," Sis said.

"There are times in which technology is better than even the most powerful magic. That's why he probably saw us as a threat," the Professor said.

"Cheer up doc. You did say that Red said he would help you get your technology back," Agent 9 said. He had actually been in the Artisans world at the time of the attack. He came to the Professor's lab to see that it had been completely destroyed. He went to Mole Caves and found everything destroyed as well. When he asked what had gone on, he found out about the attack. He decided to help with the cleanup as well.

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer was plotting on how to do away with Red and Spyro once and for all. He was back in his own world. Red and Spyro had proven to be a large threat to his plans of conquest. Misteria and Ineptune were currently with him after having made sure that the remaning prisoners wouldn't try anything.

"It's too bad we had to come back here. Dragon Shores did make a good base of operations," Misteria said.

"I know. But it was only a matter of time before Red, Spyro or both of them came to Dragon Shores, which would've made things a little easier for them. I don't want to make things even the slightest bit easier for them," the Sorcerer said. He had destroyed the base at Dragon Shores after transporting himself, Misteria, Ineptune and the remaining prisoners back to his lair.

"What should we do about those thorns in our sides though?" Ineptune asked.

"It seems as though the only way to permanently deal with them is to kill them," the Sorcerer responded.

"I've wanted to kill those two for a very long time," Misteria said.

"That won't be easy. Red is the toughest opponent that I've ever faced so far," Ineptune said.

"Indeed he is. He has proven that time and time again," the Sorcerer said.

"Why don't we involve that little brat of his? It seems that every time we put that brat in danger, Red is the first one to do anything," Misteria said.

"An excellent suggestion. The time isn't quite right to do something now. When the time is right, we'll act," the Sorcerer said.

Meanwhile in the Dragon Dojo area of Dragon Village, Titan was rummaging through his damaged house for anything salvageable. Red was helping Titan move the in tact things out. Red was very uneasy about it though. He knew that the house could collapse at any time. He had voiced his concern to Titan. Titan agreed to be extremely careful. Titan was on his fifth trip inside when the inevitable began to happen. The house began to shake, signaling the start of a collapse. Titan quickly made his way to the door. He was a foot away from the door when he tripped over some fallen planks of woods.

He tried to get up, but the trip had severely sprained his ankle. Then the roof began to fall. He closed his eyes, anticipating the roof to squash him. Fortunately, the crushing weight never came. He opened his eyes and gasped in awe. Red stood in front of him, effortlessly holding up the fallen roof, the rest of the house now shambles around them. When the roof came down, Red rushed in and held it up at an angle so anything that fell above the roof slid off the sides. Red then turned his head back and looked down at Titan.

"Can you stand?" Red asked.

"No because I sprained my ankle pretty bad," Titan responded.

"We can help," two voices said.

Titan and Red looked back to see Tomas and Astor coming. Tomas and Astor got on either side of Titan, Tomas taking one arm, and Astor the other. They were able to pull Titan to safety. Then Red began taking steps backward, laying the roof down more with each step backward. Several minutes later, he had put the roof completely down. Then he went over and healed Titan's ankle. Titan then stood up.

"Thanks Red. I would've been flatter than a pancake if not for you," Titan said.

"Don't mention it," Red said. "I think I should check on Spyro now. He's been working more that resting. I fear that he might work himself sick," he added before sensing for Spyro's aura. He located it and teleported, arriving in Skelos Badlands.

Spyro was just speaking with Gronk and Lumpy. They had just finished removing multiple bone fragments. Spyro looked back and saw Red approaching. Red had soon stopped about arm's length away from Spyro.

"Hey dad," Spyro said.

"Hey," Red said. "I was just coming to check up on you," he added.

"I've been just fine," Spyro said. Then he started crossing the bones.

Unfortunately, not all of the bones were stable anymore. The Sorcerer had left some of the bones so brittle that just about anything would collapse them. Spyro found that out when he got to the fifth bone. He quickly jumped off it before it broke apart. He jumped off one bone after another, each previous bone collapsing immediately afterwards Several minutes later, a bone collapsed just as he landed on it. He headed towards a very deadly bath.

Suddenly, he felt himself floating. He looked down and saw himself hovering about six inches above the scorching lava. He looked around but saw no one in the immediate area. Then he felt himself float upwards. He looked up and saw Red flying above him, arms stretched out towards him. Several moments later, Spyro was safely in Red's arms.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you," Spyro responded before yawning.

"Just as I thought. You need to rest Spyro. You're doing what you can to help, and I'm proud of you for that. But you also have to know when to rest. You've worked yourself too hard," Red said before landing on a solid piece of land and teleporting to Dragon Village. He went into the undamaged house and put Spyro on the bed. "You just rest now Spyro. I'll go to help in your place," he added.

Spyro nodded before going to sleep. Red smiled and teleported to Cliff Town. He had overheard Spyro say something about helping out in Cliff Town. Bandit saw Red and headed over.

"Hey amigo," Bandit said.

Red looked over to Bandit. "Hi there," he said. He was about to say something else when...

"Mama help me!" a young female voice screamed.

Red and Bandit quickly looked up and made out a young armadillo dangling over the edge of one of the cliffs.

"Oh no! Isabel!" Bandit cried.

"I'll get her," Red said before flying up.

Isabel completely lost her grip.

"Isabel no!" Sofia cried. She watched helplessly as Isabel fell into the abyss. Then she saw something quickly heading down into the abyss as well.

Isabel screamed as she plummeted through the air.

"I'm coming!" a deep voice said.

Isabel looked up and saw a red dragon flying down after her, quickly closing the gap as well. Several moments later, Red caught Isabel and flew up. He flew back up to where Sofia was and put Isabel down. Sofia was overjoyed to see her daughter safe. She gave Isabel a huge hug. Then she released her daughter and looked at Red.

"Thank you so much," Sofia said.

"It's no problem," Red said. "But what happened?" he added.

"I was just about to head over to the ladder and climb down when one of the goats butted me. I managed to grasp the cliff's edge, but I wasn't able to hold on for long," Isabel responded.

I couldn't do anything to help her because the goats were blocking me," Sofia said.

Speaking of the goats, they were now paralyzed with fear. They knew not to try anything with Red standing there. Red helped Sofia and Isabel down on the cliff. He landed in front of Bandit before placing Sofia and Isabel down on their feet. He looked around and saw that the cleanup was the slowest here.

"Can you use some extra help in cleaning up?" Red offered.

"That would be great," Bandit said before continuing with the cleanup.

Red, Bandit, Sofia and Isabel sifted through the mounds of rubble. They removed things that were still salvageable. But there was more rubble than salvageable things. Pablo and Francisco came above ground to help out. The rubble had extended underground as well. They had recently finished sifting through all the rubble underground and came above ground to help with the cleanup there.

"Well, that's enough for now. I'm flat tired," Sofia said several hours later.

"I'm exhausted," Isabel said.

"I told Spyro about pushing yourself too hard. You'll fool around and make yourself sick," Red told her.

"He's right you know," Sofia said.

"I'll try not to work as hard next time," Isabel said.

"You just have to learn how to pace yourself that's all," Pablo said.

Red then teleported to Dragon Village. He went inside the house and smiled upon finding Spyro still asleep. 'He worked himself harder than he thought,' he thought before getting into bed next to Spyro and taking a nap himself. He wrapped his arms around Spyro, Spyro snuggling closer as a result.

Meanwhile back in the Sorcerer's lair, cries of pain could be heard. The Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune smirked upon hearing Flame and Ember's cries of pain. Misteria had struck Flame and Ember with lightning bolts. Ineptune then gave them a taste of her acid breath. Not to mention that the Sorcerer inflicted his own kind of pain on them as well.

"It's been so long since I've last tortured someone like this. It makes me feel great," Misteria said smirking.

"I know how you feel," the Sorcerer said.

'We've got to find a way out of here,' Flame thought. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take the torture much longer.

Several hours later, the Sorcerer, Misteria and Ineptune left Flame and Ember alone for the time being.

"How...are we...going to get...out of...here," Ember said.

Flame looked at the bars and saw that he was just skinny enough to squeeze through them. He took a deep breath and held it before squeezing through the bars. Several moment later, he was free.

"You're...free," Ember said.

"Shh! You...want...them to know?" Flame said.

"What...are you...going to...do? Getting...out of...here...isn't easy," Ember said as quietly as she could.

"I've been...keeping a...secret," Flame said before using the last of his strength to teleport. He had luck on his side because he appeared in Dragon Village. 

Red and the other Elders were just outside when they saw Flame appear. Suddenly, Flame collapsed, his injuries catching up with him. Red rushed to Flame's side. Red then healed Flame of his injuries. Flame regained consciousness and stood up.

"Are you all right?" Red asked.

"I am now thanks to you," Flame responded.

"How were you able to escape?" Tomas asked.

"I was able to squeeze through the cage bars. Then I used the last of my strength to teleport here," Flame responded. "But the others are in the Sorcerer's lair. He had a second base in Dragon Shores. But he destroyed it and returned to his world. Ember is barely clinging to life. She needs help as soon as possible," he added.

Meanwhile, the Sorcerer was livid. He returned to where he kept his prisoners to find one had somehow escaped. He dealt the remaining prisoners a large blow, causing multiple cries of pain.

"What happened?" Misteria asked.

"That little red dragon somehow got out," the Sorcerer responded.

"Why not replace him?" Misteria asked smirking.

The Sorcerer smirked as well. "It seems as though the time to act is now," he said.

Meanwhile, Spyro was in Big Bear Forest. He helped to clear debris from what used to be houses.

"A little hard work never hurts does it Spyro?" Moneybags asked. He was clearing debris from destroyed houses as well.

"Yeah. It's too much hard work that can really affect you," Spyro said.

"Ah, too true," Moneybags said.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down. When the flash subsided, Misteria and the Sorcerer were standing where the lightning struck.

"What do you want?" Spyro asked dryly.

"You'll find out soon enough," the Sorcerer responded before putting Spyro and Moneybags under a sleeping spell. He picked Spyro up before he and Misteria disappeare.

Moneybags woke up several minutes later to find Misteria, the Sorcerer and Spyro gone. 'Oh no! Spyro's been kidnapped!' he thought.

Maxwell, Merton and Marshall had then come. They hoped that Spyro could help them clear out some pretty thick weeds. What they came to instead was a horrified Moneybags.

"Hey dad. Where did Spyro go?" Marshall said.

"The Sorcerer kidnapped him," Moneybags said.

"What?!" Maxwell exclaimed.

"You heard me. Spyro is now the Sorcerer's prisoner," Moneybags responded.

Meanwhile in Dragon Village, the Elders tried to calm Red down. Red sensed that Spyro was in big trouble and would've gone to the Sorcerer's world, plan or no plan. They understood Red's urgency. After all, Red reacted just like any good father would upon learning that his child was in danger. But they also knew that Red would be making a mistake if he were to just jump into the fray.

"You suggested that we do things that the Sorcerer wouldn't predict. The Sorcerer is definitely expecting you to suddenly show up," Ragnar said.

Red then calmed down. He knew that Ragnar was right. "But we need to act as soon as possible. There's no telling what the Sorcerer intends to do with Spyro. Spyro will be the one in for the most trouble," he said.

"Agreed. The other Elders and I will go to the Sorcerer's world first. He'll probably be expecting to see you first. We'll see what we can do to free the remaining hostages," Tomas said.

"I can appear first," Red said.

"How?" Ragnar asked.

"I can become invisible. And the Sorcerer wouldn't expect me to suddenly appear if he can't see me appear," Red responded.

"The Sorcerer will probably have Spyro elsewhere. Out of all of us, you have the best chance against the Sorcerer," Ragnar said.

Red nodded before teleporting to the Sorcerer's world. He had made himself invisible the moment he disappeared. Then the other Elders disappeared, reappearing in the Sorcerer's world. They intentionally headed into the Sorcerer's lair and found some of the hostages.

"Those are shadow cages," Cho Lei said.

"There's not much we'll be able to do then," Titan said sadly.

"I'll help then," a familiar deep voice said.

Red then came out of invisibility. He waved his hand, and the cages disappeared. The dragons parted, allowing him to see Ember. He went over to Ember's side and healed her of her injuries.

"How do you feel young lady?" Ragnar asked.

"I feel much better. Thanks Red," Ember responded.

"No problem," Red said. He healed the other now free hostages of their injuries and sent them to Dragon Shores.

"That was perfect timing," Tomas said.

Red nodded. "I'll look for Spyro," he then said.

"Right, and the others and I will try to find the remaing hostages," Titan said before he and the other Elders headed off in one direction.

Red headed off in another direction. Half an hour later, he came to a door that he hasn't seen before. 'I think that I just found out where they're keeping Spyro. I don't remember ever seeing a red and orange door,' he thought. He erected a force field around himself because he could feel the oppressive heat coming off the door. Then he broke it down.

He looked around the room, searching for Spyro. He heard a muffled sound and looked up. He saw Spyro dangling from a chain over what appeared to be a pit. He came closer and looked down the pit, seeing just how dangerous it was. There were giant blades swinging back and forth. But that wasn't all. He couldn't see the flamethrowers or the acid pool below the blades.

"So the father has finally arrived," a sinister male voice said.

Red whipped around and saw the Sorcerer. Misteria then came through the room. Meanwhile, the other Elders had found the remaining hostages. But Ineptune guarded them.

"I will take care of you once and for all," Ineptune said.

"Not today," Titan said.

Ineptune sent a large acid fireball at Ragnar. Ragnar simply smiled. He didn't just teach Red moves. Red had taught him and the other Elders the Banish spell in return for them teaching him everything they knew. Ragnar used the Banish spell on the acid ball. Ineptune's eyes widened as the ball of acid was redirected back to her. She dove under with only seconds to spare. The ball sailed harmlessly past. Then she resurfaced. Infuriated with having her own attack reflected back at her, she breathed acid. The Elders evaded the attack with only seconds to spare.

"I thought her acid breath was short range," Astor said.

"It was. But the Sorcerer helped me to become stronger. As a result, my acid breath is now a long-range attack," Ineptune said smirking before hurling smaller acid fireballs.

The Elders simply used the Banish spell to send the acid fireballs back at Ineptune. This time, Ineptune countered with more acid fireballs, which cancelled out the reflected ones.

"I think that it's time to bring this to an end," Cho Lei said.

"Oh, and how are you going to end this battle so quickly?" Ineptune asked mockingly.

"Like this," Cho Lei responded before using the Shock spell to electrically charge the water Ineptune was in.

Ineptune screamed in pain as the electricity coursed through her body, the large amount of water making the electricity even more powerful. Several minutes later, she passed out, sinking into the water. With Ineptune defeated, the cage holding the other hostages disappeared. Then the Elders helped each of them back to Dragon Shores. Tomas used the Move Spell to remove the unconscious Ineptune before teleporting her to Coastal Remains. Then he went back to Dragon Village.

"I just hope that Red is all right," Titan said.

Meanwhile, the two against one battle was already underway. Misteria shot a lightning bolt at Red. Imagine her shock when Red countered with a lightning bolt of his own. Then he took to the air, dodging a large fireball that the Sorcerer fired at him. Then Misteria fired a barrage of hail. Red melted the hail with his fire breath.

Then Red quickly erected a force field around himself. A ball of electricity fizzled out on contact with the force field, the force field disappearing afterwards. Then Red landed to duke it out with Misteria. He and Misteria exchanged lightning bolts and hail pellets at each other. The Sorcerer, seeing that Red was completely distracted attempted to get Red from behind. He charged for Red.

/Quick, fly up. The Sorcerer is coming at you from behind. What he doesn't know is that you're standing in front of the pit/

//I see what you're saying. He'll fall into his own trap//

/Exactly/

Red flew up at the last moment. The Sorcerer instantly realized his mistake. But there was nothing he could do, as he was going too fast. He ended up faling into the pit. A scream of intense pain was heard, signaling that the blades, flamethrowers and the acid pool did their work.

"Now the battle is even. It's just you and me," Red said upon landing.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. This time, I will succeed in getting rid of you," Misteria said.

Before either of them could do anything, the castle had faded away to nothing. That was because the Sorcerer used his magic to create the castle. Now that he was dead, the castle would be dead as well. But now a bigger problem presented itself. Because the castle disappeared, the chain around Spyro was no longer fastened to something. Spyro fell towards the deadly pit(A/N: Let's just say that the deadly pit didn't disappear as well because it was already there before the Sorcerer created his castle).

Red quickly ran to the edge of the pit and stretched his arms out. "Gotcha," he said upon feeling Spyro land in his arms.

Misteria then fired a lightning bolt while Red was distracted with saving Spyro. But Red sensed the attack and flew up to avoid it. Then Red unwrapped an arm from around Spyro. Then he removed the gag from Spyro's mouth. Then he broke the chain holding Spyro. He landed away from the pit and put Spyro down before putting a force field over Spyro. Neither Spyro nor Misteria could see the force field because it was invisible this time.

"I just put a force field over you. You can't see it, but it's there. It will keep you safe in case Misteria tries something sneaky," Red said.

"Thanks," Spyro said. "Give Misteria a good beating," he added.

"Oh I'll make sure of that," Red said before turning his attention back to Misteria.

"See if you can take this," Misteria said before launching a softball-sized ball of electricity at Red.

Red simply caught the electric ball. Then he wound up and threw the ball right back at Misteria. Misteria gasped before firing another electric ball to counter the one coming back at her. The two attacks exploded. Then Misteria turned the tranquil weather stormy. Lightning flashed every 5 seconds. Soon hail began to fall as well.

"Can you handle a little hailstorm?" Misteria asked smirking. She gapsed in shock to see Red unaffected.

"With my ability to create force fields, I can easily handle anything you throw at me," Red said.

Then Misteria conjured up a very powerful F-5 tornado. The twister was a mile wide. She flew out of its path. The tornado sucked up whole trees. It even picked up the grass on the ground. But Red wasn't worried. When the tornado passed over Red and Spyro, they were completely unharmed. Everything else had been wiped out. Misteria was shocked to no end upon seeing that the most powerful of tornadoes didn't do a thing to Spyro or Red.

"How could you hold your force field up in winds of over 300 miles per hour?" Misteria asked.

"The same reason why I can do this," Red responded before waving his hand in an arch-like motion.

Then the sky started clearing up, much to Misteria's dismay and shock. Red then removed the force field he erected around himself.

"How can you control the weather?" Misteria asked.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out," Red responded. He then fired a sunbeam at Misteria.

Misteria tried to counter the sunbeam with a small blizzard, but the sunbeam cut right through the ice and snow. Misteria was struck directly. She regained her composure before taking to the sky. She conjured up another storm and merged with it. "Let's see if you can handle me now. My powers are at their greatest when I merge with a storm I create," she said.

"I can handle you no matter what you look like. And you look quite ugly right now," Red said.

/Amen to that/

"You said it," Spyro agreed.

Misteria screamed in anger upon hearing Red's remark and aimed a large lightning bolt at him. Red breathed fire to counter the incoming lightning strike. The two attacks collided, causing an explosion. A fierce wind picked up, blowing the large volume of smoke away. Red was no longer on the ground.

"Where are you ya little menace? I know the explosion didn't kill you," Misteria said. She couldn't see that Red was now above her.

Red had taken advantage of the smokescreen to quickly get above Misteria's storm. He directed some of the sun's energy into her. She felt the sun get more intense, but wasn't affected that much by it.

"How is the sun getting hotter?" she asked. She was actually at a disadvantage now that she merged with her storm. She could only see what was below her. She couldn't look all around. If she could, then she would've located Red by now.

Red was trying to figure out how to greatly affect Misteria now that she was the storm she created. //How will I be able to affect Misteria now?//

/You'll have to create a high concentration of stable air. Stable air is a storm's worse enemy/

//How can I do that?//

/Clear your mind of all thoughts and feel the air around you. You should be able to draw enough of it to give Misteria a big surprise/

Red did as Cosma told him. He closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the stable air around him. Several minutes later, he felt the air flowing through his body. He drew in air for about ten minutes. Then he opened his eyes and flew over the storm. He flapped his wings slow and hard, dispensing the air he gathered into Misteria's storm. 

Misteria began to feel herself breaking up. "How is this possible? I made sure to expel high amounts of stable air," Misteria said as she continued breaking up. Soon, she fell out of her storm and angrily watched it completely break up. That's when she saw Red. "So you were the culprit behind the high amount of stable air," she said angrily.

"I was indeed," Red said.

Misteria shot ice and snow towards Red. Red simply countered the ice and snow with his fire breath. Then he spun in place. As he spun around, electricity started forming around him. He then breathed fire to create a fiery electric cyclone. Then he sent the cyclone at Misteria. Misteria attempted to cancel out the dual attack with electricity and fire of her own, but Red's attack sliced right through her counterattack.

Misteria fell from the sky after the attack struck her. She recuperated several moments later and flew back up again. "You always were annoying to me," she said.

"I'm glad you see me that way," Red said smirking.

Then Misteria intensified the sun's rays. The temperature began to climb. But it didn't last forever because Red began bringing the temperature down. Misteria attempted to increase the temperature when she felt it decreasing, but Red's power was too great for her. The temperature was soon to a more comfortable setting again. Misteria was getting desperate. She closed her eyes in concentration for a very big attack.

A multi-colored aura soon engulfed her. Five minutes later, she unleashed a multi-colored beam of energy. The energies making up the beam were solar energy, electrical energy as well as water and ice. Red stretched his arms out, palms facing Misteria. The beam came in contact with his hands. At first, the beam was quickly pushing him backwards.

"Now you die," Misteria said smirking.

"Dad!" Spyro cried in horror upon seeing the beam getting the best of his father.

Red continued to struggle against the beam. 'I won't let Misteria beat me,' he thought determinedly.

'Come on Red, concentrate. I know you can send the beam back at her,' Cosma thought.

Red was still being pushed backwards. He was only minutes away from literally having his back against the wall and possibly being blown to kingdom come as well. He closed his eyes, reaching deep down within himself to find the strength to push the beam back. Soon, he roared as a large quantity of energy suddenly flowed through him. "Now it finally ends Misteria," he said. He bent his arms back a little before pushing the beam back towards her with all his strength.

Misteria gasped in shock as her beam was reflected back at her. The reflected beam had also picked up quite a bit of speed. She had used so much energy to create the beam that she wouldn't be able to avoid the reflected attack. She screamed in pain as the beam made a direct hit. She fell from the sky. She saw what appeared to be a wide-open Spyro on the ground.

With the last of her energy, she fired a lightning bolt at Spyro. The lightning bolt fizzled away harmlessly upon contact with the force field around Spyro. She looked down and screamed upon seeing that she was falling into the deadly pit. Red flew down and removed the force field over Spyro. He and Spyro heared Misteria's dying screams. Soon, the screams faded.

"It's over. The nightmare is finally over," Spyro said, almost not believing that Misteria was finally gone.

"Yes. Misteria is gone forever. Karla's death has finally been avenged," Red said.

"The Sorcerer has also been defeated for good," Spyro said.

"Yes," Red said before picking up Spyro. He then teleported back to Dragon Village. He didn't see anyone in the immediate area and headed to the Dragon Dojo ruins. He saw everyone gathered in the area and landed in the middle of the large circle. He put Spyro down before looking at everyone and smiling.

Everyone then broke out into loud cheers. Upon seeing Red smile, they knew that the Sorcerer and Misteria had been defeated.

"What a glorious day this has turned into," Tomas said.

"Yes. The Sorcerer and Misteria are gone for good," Red said.

"An extraordinary day this has turned into," Titan said.

Then Spyro gave a big yawn. Everyone looked up to see that the sun had completely set. The moon and stars now lit up the sky. Spyro simply lay where he was and went to sleep. Red lay down next to Spyro, wrapping his arms around Spyro before going to sleep himself. Everyone found a place to lie down before going to sleep as well.

The next morning, everyone awoke rested and refreshed. With Red and the other Elders' help, everyone was sent to his/her home. The cleanup and rebuilding was back underway. In Dragon Village, Red and Spyro ate from a large tray of fruit and nuts that suddenly appeared in front of them. Half an hour after finishing, Red picked up Spyro.

"What do you say to having some fun?" Red asked.

"I say let's do it," Spyro responded smiling.

Red smiled as well and took to the sky. He flew all over Dragon Village before teleporting to Tree Tops. He wove his way around the trees, doing stunts along the way. Spyro laughed, enjoying the stunt flying his father was doing. With the Sorcerer and Misteria finally gone, they would be having a lot more worry free days. Things were indeed looking the highest they've ever been.

And that's the end. This story is 100 complete. Now that the Sorcerer and Misteria have been defeated once and for all, things should go back to normal. Or will they? Yep, I plan to do a sequel to this story. Just as it seems that things are getting to normal again, Ripto, the most annoying villain ever, shows his ugly face once again. This time, he's back for only one reason: revenge. Stay tuned for Ripto Strikes Back.


End file.
